


Intertwined Fates

by Namaka_Okahai



Category: Powerpuff Girls
Genre: Angst, Brick is bad at emotion, Child Abuse, F/M, Fantasy, I'm Bad At Tagging, Prophecy, Slow Romance, The Powerpuff Girls, The RowdyRuff Boys - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:27:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 30,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23390197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Namaka_Okahai/pseuds/Namaka_Okahai
Summary: Brick and Blossom hadn’t been arch enemies for a long time, but that didn’t mean they got along now. Both had been pushed together by an unforeseen force, and with a prophecy in the mix the stakes were high. Strange markings on their bodies appear from seemingly nowhere and legends from long ago reappear. Their fates somehow intertwined as both new they were destined for each other fro better or worse. Would they be able to solve the mystery that is plaguing Townsville and save the world from the dark. More importantly, could they avoid falling for each other while doing it?
Relationships: Boomer/Bubbles Utonium, Brick/Blossom Utonium, Butch/Buttercup Utonium
Comments: 12
Kudos: 46





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome! This is my first fanfic ever and I'm really excited to share it. A quick note there are going to be mentions of abuse and scenes regarding abuse. I just wanted to say that as a quick warning for anyone who might get triggered. If it goes the way I planned, it should be fairly long fanfic and this story is very red-centric but I will have some chapters focusing on siblings and side characters too. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> P.S This story will be on fan fiction.net as well, my profile name is Namaka.Okahai, and you can find me on instagram with the Namaka_Okahai  
> I plan on posting fan-art in the future so check that out too!
> 
> p.p.s we're in quarantine so don't judge me for posting so frequently.

## Chapter 1- And So It Begins

### ~Brick~

Brick was desperate, pleading for Ms. Bellum to let his brothers off with a warning. He had been so stupid, he knew they were idiots but he had only asked for one thing. Would it have been so hard for dumb and dumber to wait patiently while he worked his shift at the auto-repair shop? He should have known things were going a little too well for him today, he should have remembered that Buttercup had track meetings on Friday. Her extreme anger issues are only exemplified by any interaction with her former 'arch-enemy'. They had grown tired of the stupid rivalry long ago, with Brick realizing that he needed to save his brothers from themselves and how they were all raised together. They hadn't truly been enemies with the powerpuff girls since the 5th grade. However, Butch and Buttercup still had the angry tension between a villain and a hero. He knew that she could barely refrain from starting a fight with Butch on the best of days, and he wished that he knew that she was going to lose a race that day. If he had known, he would have dragged Boomer and Butch's asses inside with him, or called out sick.

Now he felt like he was going to be sick as his eyes scanned all the damage the idiots had caused. His jaw clenched and unclenched as he struggled to come up with an excuse or any way to placate the fuming Ms. Bellum who had taken up the mantle of scolding him on behalf of the mayor who was preoccupied with some pickles.

"Mr. Jojo, you know that there are going to have to be serious repercussions for this."

Oh he knew that there were going to be repercussions and he knew that the ones waiting for all three brothers at home would be ones of the physical variety.

"Please." he said quietly, not noticing the brief look of shock on her face. "I mean it this time, i'll keep 'em on a tighter leash… we can help fix the damage."

She sighed rubbing her temples, in an attempt to prevent what he was sure was an oncoming headache.

"I'm sorry," She placed an arm on his shoulder, in an attempt to comfort him, it instead only made him feel like a stupid child. She continued, "There are certain protocols for this and this is more damage than usual, not even I could cover it up."

He nodded knowingly, he had been a fool to try but he owed his brothers that at least. He peered outside the large window that overlooked the entrance of City Hall. Boomer sat on the stairs, while Butch paced back and forth. As if they could sense Brick watching them, they both looked up towards the window he stood in front of. He caught his brothers' hopeful eyes and he shook his head feeling like he had been stabbed. Their reactions were very different, but he recognized the stiff aloofness Butch had forced upon himself, Boomer's hyperventilating turned into sobs, each shake of his shoulders wrenched the metaphorical knife further into him.

He turned to Ms. Bellum, "Can I ask you for a favor?"

She lifted an eyebrow encouraging him to continue silently. "When you inform our legal guardians of the events that transpired today, I would like to request that the blame for this particular incident be placed on me. Officially, in the report it can be him but when you inform of this event, I started and was at fault for it."

She seemed to be taken a back whether due to his suddenly very professional voice, a bonafide Brick trademarked defensive mechanism, or his selflessness he didn't know. She looked at him oddly but nevertheless nodded silently. He could feel her gaze on him as he stalked out of the mayor's office meeting with his brothers down below. Each step he took down the stairs was painful, knowing that with each step he was closer and closer to the inevitable.

Butch quickly rushed towards him, "Boss, l wasn't- i didn't- it wasn't supposed to-" He raised a hand silently, giving his brother a harsh but slightly sympathetic look. It never was supposed to, but at this point it was too late.

He glanced over at Boomer whose breathing pattern was still slightly off but the only remnants of his brother's brief breakdown were the red eyes. Brick began to walk towards his car, both brothers wordlessly following behind him.

He drove slow, he was in no rush to get home. Unfortunately, the temporary safe haven in the car would have to end as he pulled into the driveway of their home. He removed the key from the ignition and the car stilled, no one made any attempts to leave.

Brick turned to both his brothers who were putting on brave faces, that might've worked on others but would never on him.

"Listen to me, no matter what happens or what he does, you had nothing to do with it." Both brother's eyes widened and opened their mouths beginning to protest. He gave them a harsh glare which made both their mouths slam shut.

"This is a direct order, got it? If anyone pulls any hero bullshit, no one will be able to recognize you when I'm through with you." No response was given but he saw worry flicker through their eyes.

"Do you understand me?" He said, he didn't need to yell, his tone of voice was enough to get his brothers on the same page.

Both brothers nodded silently, Brick inhaled a shaky breath, the only indication that he was anything but calm.

"Alright," he said exiting the car and slamming the door behind him, "Let's get this shit-show over with."

* * *

The whispers of people followed Brick today, there were always remarks or comments and usually he wouldn't give shit but after what he went through this weekend he was a little on edge. He opened his locker, grabbing his necessary textbooks. If he was lucky he could get through some of the homework that he wasn't able to do.

_"Jesus… what the hell happened to him?"_

He stiffened trying to ignore the fact that these comments and 'whispers', which weren't whispers at all, what were they whispering through a bullhorn?

_"Heard he got into a fight that went bad."_

_"You think he'd lose? The guy is a fucking psycho."_

_"I heard that this was his initiation into the Gangreen gang."_

_"Whatever it was, the guy looks like shit."_

He knew that the bruises and cuts that were visible looked almost as painful as they were. He hadn't realized he looked that bad though, he hoped that his reputation as a former villain was enough to prevent people from looking into his home life. The last thing he needed was more punishment because some teacher with a hero complex wanted to stick their nose in something they couldn't comprehend. He slammed his locker shut, startling the bumbling idiots with microphones in their vocal chords. He gave them a look that was enough to make them avert their gaze and fiddle with the locks on their own lockers.

Brick didn't have many friends for reasons he considered glaringly obvious, seeing as a majority of the school population were vapid excuses of people but even he had somehow managed to have a best friend. He was supposed to be meeting him now, and he walked briskly to their usual table, Mike was incredibly impatient and he couldn't handle the whining on top of his pounding headache.

Upon entering their dining hall, he saw Mike talking to a group of people, he recognized as some of Mike's fellow members of the student council. Mike had come out his shell in high school and had become one of the most outgoing people in the school. He was a part of nearly every club and was president of their class. He had sort of _"adopted"_ Brick into his life, but even he had gotten Mike to admit that it was more like forcibly getting to know him whether Brick had liked it or not. Brick's lack of friends was clearly shown as he only knew one other person's name in that group besides Mike and he only knew it because he had fought her for a majority of his life. Her pink eyes narrowed in response to something Mike said as she animatedly waved her hands while she talked, her disagreement clear. He gave her a short response, her irritation was obvious as she angrily opened her mouth about to give him a piece of her mind when she happened to look up Brick's eyes met her evenly as she approached. Concern was in her eyes, but he met her gaze challengingly, daring her to say something. Her mouth snapped shut, much to Mike's surprise, he and the rest of the group turned to see what had caught her so off guard.

He wished he had gotten a picture, everyone's face was priceless. He knew that the large bruise along his cheekbone and black eye wasn't pretty and the series of cuts along his face and stretching down to his neck had made even himself grimace in the mirror. Some cuts had been so deep that they hadn't even begun to scab over, they had remained as red and raw as his brother's eyes were as they had been forced to watch. He could see a hint of disgust in their faces as they took his injuries in but he mostly saw fear. They knew what he was like, he took shit from no one and _almost_ never lost a fight, the only losing battles had been thanks to the puffs. He didn't consider himself a violent person, but everyone knew that Brick wasn't the type of person to lie down and take it. He could hear their unasked question, If he looked like that, what happened to the other guy and was he still alive?"

The room cleared rather quickly when he reached Mike's side. He could hear their muttering as they left, avoiding his gaze. He was surprised to see that Blossom hadn't left, but stared at him wordlessly along with a similarly mute Mike.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" Brick's attempts at humor failed as the quiet stretched into an awkward silence. _Jesus,_ tough crowd. He placed his backpack on the table providing much needed relief from the straps digging into fresh wounds hidden by his sweater.

Mike broke the silence first with an angry mutter, "Who did this?"

Brick gave him a look that said 'drop it' . Blossom's pink eyes narrowed, and she looked like she wanted to say something but thought better of it. It was quiet again and Brick was extremely thankful for the bell.

Mike leaned over and whispered in his ear, "We'll talk about this at lunch."

He slipped his backpack on, quietly hissing as he did so, something Blossom clearly noticed as she frowned. He walked a couple steps towards the door and against his better judgment, paused, turned to look at her and said "C'mon, we only have 5 miutes to get there."

Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Relax, we have the same class anyway," his comment shook her out of her confusion as she picked up her stuff and hesitantly walked by his side to class.

The day droned on until finally there was only one class left until lunch.

This english class was incredibly boring as the teacher monotonously went on and on. He longed for his math class where there was always a clear answer and none of this objectivity bullshit. He allowed himself a quick glance at his neighbor, who uncharacteristically took the closest seat to him as possible. Blossom seemed to be lost in thought, her cerise eyes slightly glazed over as she tapped her pen absentmindedly against her desk. He turned away, and tried to think about why the hell she was acting so weird. He decided to make better use of his time, he sketched two Koi fish forming an almost 'yin-yang' symbol on a loose sheet of paper he had. A client at the auto repair shop has offered a pretty penny for a custom hood ornament. His ability to 'sculpt' with metal because of his fire resistant hands made customers very interested in things he could make. He thought about the specifics of what it looked like, when he was interrupted by the bell ringing. He scowled but didn't want to lose the train of thought, so he continued to jot down specifics of it. The man wanted it to be made out of two different types of metal. He growled in frustration, realizing the challenge metals with two different melting points would pose. Maybe he would make a suggestion for another metal that was more similar. He felt something brush past his ear and nearly flung himself back when he turned and found Blossom's face an inch away from his face.

"Do you-," he cleared his throat, "-need something?" His face turned slightly red from the close proximity.

She seemingly snapped out of whatever trance she was in, as her face turned bright red and she stepped back very quickly stumbling into a desk behind her and promptly knocked it over. This only made her turn more red as she fumbled around and tried to fix the desk she knocked over.

A snort escaped him as he watched her frenzied antics, and she turned to look at him over her shoulder and glared at him. The glare was ineffective seeing as her face matched her eyes. He held up his hands in mock surrender,which seemingly placated her as she continued straightening the desk. He rose from his desk after putting all of his materials away and was going to make a beeline from the door but paused, she clearly wanted to talk to sat back down and for the second time today, he waited for her.

Seemingly satisfied with her work she stepped back and observed the desk, her hand on her hip. She turned to him, a triumphant look on her face. He couldn't help the small laugh that escaped his lips leaving him with a smile on his face, she looked so cute. He froze, punching himself mentally, cute? _Oh hell no_. **Definitely not.** he barely tolerated her, someone so frustrating could never be cute. Brick wrestled with his inner thoughts but was interrupted by her voice.

"You should do that more often."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Laugh," she said and then in a lower voice somewhat sheepishly, "you have a nice smile."

His face tinged pink as he awkwardly mumbled a thanks. God, this was so awkward. Brick had to get out of here before he embarrassed himself. She walked towards him and bent down to his chair level, before he could say anything, her soft cool hands cupped his face. His face matched the levels of red she reached earlier and he couldn't help but notice, the tint of pink still on her cheeks among her freckles.

"Oh, my firefly…" She said his nickname softly. His heart jolted. It has been a long time since she had called him that. She continued her voice low, concerned and something else he couldn't distinguish in her voice, "Who did this to you?"

He stiffened and averted his gaze. They remained silent as her thumb began caressing his face, moving across his face, and somehow her touch was more gentle as she passed a large bruise on her cheekbone. He placed his hand over hers, the stark contrast in temperature evident as her cold hand was 'sandwiched' between his face and calloused hand. He held her hand there and closed his eyes.

He felt her cool forehead press against his as she whispered , "I'm sorry you can't tell me."

"I'm sorry too, my snowflake," His voice low. He opened his eyes briefly but saw her eyes were closed, a single tear down her face.

Saying her nickname reminded him of a time when they were young and close. He thought they could be friends. They spent hours coming up with nicknames, and these had stuck. He wondered what they would be like if he stayed as innocent and naive as he was then. When he and the boys were punished for the first time, he shut everyone out, Brick didn't think she ever forgave him for that. Brick was the only one at fault for the bad blood between them.

His other hand went up to her face, and wiped the tear with the pad of his thumb before closing his own eyes and leaving his hand there. She leaned into his warm hand and they both stayed like that until the end of lunch, both ignoring texts from siblings and friends. When the bell rang they separated before anyone could see them, but Brick couldn't help the pang of sadness when her hand left his face.

* * *

He and Mike walked side by side down the road that they both took on the way home. He had left his car at home today, Mojo Jojo had decided that along with the antidote X Brick had been forced to endure making his wounds heal incredibly slowly, that he wasn’t allowed to use his car.Without his powers, he couldn’t fly home and was forced to walk. Mike didn’t question why they were walking instead of driving, instead repeatedly kicking a pebble forward as they walked. The lack of questions about walking surprised Brick, knowing that Mike Believe had to be the most athletically challenged person he knew and was incredibly whiny. 

“You didn’t show up at lunch,” he said, kicking the pebble a little too far, and they continued walking leaving it behind.

“I know.”

“I was forced to talk to those idiot members of my student council and the only logical person in that whole group was missing in action.” Brick knew that he was talking about Blossom, and Mike would have his hide knowing that he was the reason he had to deal with those stupid people alone was because of him.

“My bad, Mikey. I didn’t think I would be gone for so long.”

“Uh huh, where were you anyway?”

Brick blanched as she remembered being alone in a classroom with Blossom unsupervised, in a somewhat intimate position. Brick knew that he had absolutely no romantic feelings for the Orange-haired powerpuff, but Mike might get the wrong idea. 

“Nowhere! I was alone! Nobody else there!” He said quickly in a panic. Mike turned to him quickly, a smile on his face and an eyebrow raised. 

Brick continued to dig himself into a further hole, “I mean obviously, I don't talk to anyone, why would anyone else be there? Oh, stop fucking looking at me like that.”

Mike burst into laughter as Brick rolled his eyes. 

“Jesus, Brick. Now I definitely believe you.” He said, slightly out of breath from laughing too hard. They reached the street Mike’s house was on, the park was another block down, he did not look foward to climbing up that stupid-ass mountain.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and continued to walk, ignoring the snicker behind him.

* * *

Brick’s shoulders sagged in relief when he noticed the syringe with familiar black liquid in it even before he read the note. He quickly injected the liquid into his arm, already feeling better as the power came back into his body and his wounds began to heal faster. He picked up the note that was being held down by his newly returned car keys.

_My eldest son, the most responsible because you were born first, making you the eldest. It is your father MOJO JOJO. I in my incredible generosity have decided that you have learned your lesson, a lesson that was very difficult to learn, but a lesson was learned. You may now have your powers back , powers that were bestowed upon you at your birth, powers that i took away and will now return. I am not coming home tonight, I am getting the new parts to my machine so that I can destroy the Powerpuff girls, and I, MOJO JOJO can take over Townsville._

__

__

_Love, MOJO JOJO, your father and creator, the being who is responsible for your inception and existence._

He rolled his eyes crumpling the paper into a little ball and tossing it into the trash. He set his backpack down by his unorganized desk. His desk was the only thing that was messy in his otherwise immaculately clean room. He may have been a rowdyruff boy but that doesn’t mean he had to suffer and live in a pigsty like his brothers. He sat down at his desk and fiddled with his newest project. It was going to be a little music box, but for now it was just an empty box with various gears and bits in there. He began to tinker with it, his hands flying to place the mechanical pieces where they belonged. Brick wasn't sure what it was, but something about creating something from nothing and how each part had a role and a purpose aws extremely satisfying. Even the Duke of Destruction could make something beautiful.

The time flew by as he continued working on the intricate mechanical masterpiece.He continued until his eyes began to burn with exhaustion and the time on the clock told him that he should go to sleep before suffering the consequences in his classes tomorrow. He couldn’t bring himself to get ready for bed, a strange uneasy feeling in his stomach at the thought of sleeping. Brick decided to stay up and just continue working, but as his blinking turned into longer and longer moments of closed eyes, he fell asleep at his desk, willpower gone.

_He saw himself, his red eyes widening in the mirror, as he spun around. He was in a dark room with the only light focusing on him. The walls were mirrors and there was no door ensuring that he had no escape. He peered up at the ceiling but only saw black, he realized that the light was coming from seemingly nowhere._

__

_Without warning the mirrors began to move, on all sides the walls began to close in on him. Brick tried to push back on a mirror, but to no avail wherever he was, he was powerless. Panic began to overtake him as he pounded at the mirrors closing in. He was going to suffocate he realized and in a last ditch attempt threw himself at the glass. He heard the shatter of glass and when he opened his eyes he was no longer in the room._

__

_A familiar hand grabbed his shoulder and hoisted him up. Surprisingly, it was Blossom, she had her orange hair completely down with no bow in sight. The curls flowed all the way to her waist, which made him realize that she was in what appeared to be pajamas. Her tanktop and shorts, revealed more of her skin than he had ever seen. Her long legs looked surprisingly soft, he would have expected them to be muscular from all the exercise she did beating up villains. He hadn't expected them to be as **enticing** as they were. He noticed her tank top had rolled up exposing her midriff and he saw a thin red line peek out from underneath her shorts_

__

_“Are you okay?”_

__

_His eyes quickly shot to her face, hoping that he didn't notice him checking her out. Even in his dreams with no repercussions, he didn’t want her to think he was a creep. He nodded and she turned her head, quickly glancing behind her shoulder and the tiny glass shards in her hair shimmered._

__

_“This must be a nightmare…” She closed her eyes and pinched herself apparently trying to wake up. HIs eyes narrowed, why the hell was she trying to wake herself up in his dream? This was getting weird..._

__

_“What are you-” He started but a booming voice erupted all around them, nearly knocking them off their feet. His hand reached out and steadied her before she fell._

__

_He grimaced as the unknown entity shouted._ **Heed my warning…**

__

**Two fates irrevocably intertwined**

****

**Pay attention or you’ll be going in blind.**

****

**Secrets never uttered and promises broken**

****

**The dark one and his gate shall open.**

****

**Opposite Powers destined to combine,**

****

**Reunited having been separated from the beginning of time.**

****

**The only two who can hold off the attack**

****

**Quickly save us before the world turns into black.**

__

_A burning sensation overtook him and he doubled over in pain. He felt like he was burning from the inside out, it was impossible to hold back his scream as it spread to his back. He heard a feminine scream, but as he looked around Blossom was nowhere to be found. Her pain filled shrieks filled the air only interrupted by the voice._

__

**Find her.**

__

_“Who?” he managed to say between gritted teeth._

__

**Blossom Utonium.**

__


	2. Strange Markings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally finished the chapter! I'm so happy you guys liked it! I tried to make it longer, but let me know if you would prefer shorter chapters more frequently or longer chapters less often. There's a lot of fluff in this chapter. I also had a lot of fun with Ms. Keane being a 'mama bear' rather than the professor, and the sisters teasing Blossoms were fun also. I'm currently working on fan art to show you what the markings look like, it'll be posted on my instagram soon, my instagram is the same as my username on here. I wanted to thank those of you who left a comment, they really made my day! Enjoy!

### ~ Brick~

Brick’s eyes shot open, as he fell out of his desk chair and slammed onto the floor. Brick felt like he ran a marathon as he panted, the burning sensation from the dream had gone only leaving a dull ache in his body. He slowly rose from the floor and yawned, his hands outstretched in front of him. He looked over his hands and arms, and saw that his wounds were completely healed. He rubbed at his face confusedly, he still felt like he had injuries on his face and back. He reached for his phone, he hoped it had enough battery to last the school day. Falling asleep at his desk had been a complete mistake Brick realized as he yawned again, he felt like he hadn’t rested at all and his body felt sore and stiff. 

When Brick checked the time, his eyes shot open, any trace of being tired completely gone as he realized he was so late that he had missed first and second period. A text from Boomer said that they had let him sleep and had gone to school early, there were more texts sent after asking where he was. Brick tossed his phone onto his bed and scrambled to his dresser, where he yanked the first shirt he saw over his head. He pulled his pants on while he ran to the bathroom. Brick quickly grabbed his toothbrush and exited the bathroom, he began to brush his teeth furiously while he searched for his shoes. He spit into the trashcan of his room, and pulled his hair into a messy low ponytail. He scowled and shoved his hat over his messy unbrushed hair. He hadn’t even had time to look in the mirror and could only imagine how ridiculous he looked. He shoved his keys into his pocket and quickly grabbed his backpack and phone before he bolted out of the front door. He drove as fast as he could to school.

He parked and locked his car, running up the front steps of the school. He sped past the main office, not bothering to get a tardy slip, third period had just started and he couldn’t afford to be late, Mrs. Lebonsky was incredibly strict and unforgiving. He burst into the classroom and everyone turned towards him, their faces shocked. Mrs. Lebonsky was startled at the outburst, but her look of surprise shifted into annoyance. Her face began to turn red as the door loudly slammed closed behind him.

“Brick Jojo,” she said sternly, “What do you think you're doing? How dare you disrupt my class.”

“Uh- I’m sorry, it's just that-”

“Where is your tardy slip?” She held out her hand expectantly. 

“Well I didn’t-”

Her open hand clenched into a fist as she interrupted him.

“You come into my classroom tardy and have the **audacity** to not have a slip? I will not stand for this disrespectful behavior. You have taken valuable learning time away from these students.”

Birck frowned at that, their supposed _‘learning time’_ wouldn’t have been interrupted if she had just let him sit down so she could continue with her lesson. 

She continued her rant, her hand pointing at his face, “Not only that but you come to school looking like some kind of delinquent. Is that a gang tattoo?”

Tattoo? Brick’s annoyance levels and confusion increased and opened his mouth ready to tell her exactly where she could shove her assumptions. However, he didn't have the time, because for the second time this morning, the door was slammed open with such force that the door was nearly ripped off its hinges. Someone barreled into him and he fell onto the floor with a crash, he heard a following thump which he could only assume was said person hitting the ground. He picked himself off the ground,and whirled around to see who had knocked him over. Blossom sat on the floor as she clutched at her face, and he heard her slight panting as she tried to stand with shaky legs.

He stepped forward and helped her up, his hand gripping her arm slightly too tightly. She removed her hand from her face ready to thank and apologize to him, but instead her eyes saw his face and her jaw immediately dropped. A biting remark about how happy he was to see her too died in his mind, when he saw markings on her face. Brick’s face mirrored hers as he noticed three blue dots of varying size underneath both of her pink eyes. Another mark which looked like a ‘v’ shape was located in the center of her forehead and had another dot above it.

“Blossom? What the-”

Mrs. Lebonsky’s enraged scream made both of them jump. She was so angry, her face had shifted from red to a putrid purple.

“BOTH OF YOU TO THE PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE!”

* * *

### ~ Blossom~

Brick and Blossom sat dejectedly on the chairs outside of Ms. Keane’s office. Blossom tried to not be annoyed by Brick shaking his leg rapidly making the cheap chair he was sitting in squeak repeatedly. Blossom noted that his jaw was clenched and his brows were furrowed in deep thought. Blossom openly stared at the three long bright red lines starting from underneath both his eyes that ran vertically down and stopped at his jaw. He didn’t notice as she sneakily leaned slightly closer to him trying to get a closer look. It couldn’t be a tattoo, no needle could pierce their skin and even then, their superior bodies would get rid of the ink injected in them anyway. 

Blossom figured subtlety be damned as she grabbed his face aggressively and pulled his face towards her. His eyebrows shot up but he didn't speak, and only looked at her questioningly. Blossom could feel her cheeks warm but stubbornly kept her grip on his jaw, studying the marks closely. He swallowed loudly, and his body shifted slightly but his face remained where it was. 

“What is going on here?” Ms. Keane’s voice made them jerk apart quickly. Both their faces flushed as Ms. Keane’s eyes narrowed, eyes looking back and forth between them. 

Ms.Keane sighed and opened the door and gestured to her office, “Come on in.”

Blossom and Brick shuffled quietly into her office. Blossom felt the anxiety make her stomach churn, today had officially been one of the worst days ever. She had been late and ruined her perfect attendance record. Then she had been yelled at by a teacher she had slowly and painstakingly made like her. That was especially frustrating, there were hours of sucking up that she would never get back. Lastly, she knew that she was going to be severely punished by Ms. Keane. Even though Ms.Keane had reconciled with the professor and was now ‘Mom’ at home, the soon to be Mrs. Utonium turned into her principal when they arrived at school. 

Ms. Keane quietly closed the door behind her and sat down at her desk. A framed picture of Ms.Keane, the professor, and the three girls sat on top of her desk. Ms. Keane’s smiling face in the picture did not match her disappointed face right now. 

Blossom selfishly wished she had remained a kindergarten teacher, instead of slowly rising through the ranks to become a principal. 

“I am very disappointed in both of you,” Ms. Keane said.

She felt Brick stiffen at her side and she only shifted her feet slightly, but both remained silent.

Ms. Keane pulled out a form from within her desk and began to write, Blossom’s anxiety grew with the deafening silence that was only broken by the pen scratching against the paper repeatedly. 

She paused her writing to speak, her pen waving as she did so, “From what I’ve heard, you both arrived at school extremely tardy, interrupted class, and ‘disrespected’ your teacher.” 

She made air quotes at disrespected, which made Blossom want to laugh, but the inevitable tongue-lashing in her future made her stay silent. 

“Listen, I know you _both_ are good kids,” Brick’s eyebrows raised at ‘both’ but Ms. Keane continued, “I’m only going to give both of you lunch detention for a week starting tomorrow but it won’t be on your official record.”

Blossom let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

Brick’s shoulders relaxed, “Thank you so much, Ms. Keane.”

Ms. Keane just waved away his thanks, “Ah, don’t worry about it. On another note….”

She leaned forward, hands flat on her desk, “What the hell is on your faces?”

Blossom turned to Brick, waiting for an explanation, but froze as she processed what Ms.Keane said. Did she say faces? As in plural? Blossom’s hands rushed to her face, trying to feel for any marks. She saw Brick do the same, and then he pulled out his phone from his pocket. Brick froze as he saw the marks on his face in the phone camera. 

Blossom’s head spun towards Ms. Keane who looked equally confused. 

Blossom managed to croak out, “Do you have a mirror?” 

Wordlessly Ms. Keane pulled out a tiny hand held mirror from her purse and Blossom snatched it from her hands. When Blossom saw the marks on her face, she tried to rub them off but to no avail. Brick had taken a tissue from Ms. Keane’s desk and seemed to be attempting the same. Oh God. Blossom began to panic, it wouldn’t come off. If this was a prank Buttercup had pulled on her, then Blossom was going to kill her. 

She must have woken up like this, but no one else had been home. Her sisters had been gone, when she woke up. She had been slumped over her desk, her face on her unfinished homework, and her whole body in incredibile pain. This morning, she had been so cold, especially after _the dream._ Less of a dream and more of a nightmare. That incredible pain she felt as if she was freezing from the inside out. That mysterious voice, saying strange things, and telling her that she and one other person was the world’s only hope. That person was standing in front of her freaking out as much as her. That person also had strange markings and Blossom knew that they must be connected somehow.

Brick seemed to reach the same conclusion as they both screamed simultaneously, “WHAT THE FUCK!”

* * *

The school day had flown by, her mind preoccupied with other things. She had sat with them at lunch again to the surprise of Mike and Brick, but no one had been more surprised than her sisters who had stared at her from their usual table across the cafeteria. 

Blossom could feel their eyes on her with every bite she took of her lunch. She sat next to Brick, who was equally quiet as he ate his own lunch. Mike’s eyes kept flickering from her face to his.

“So, uh- What’s with the- er- y’know.” Mike awkwardly gestured to their faces.

Blossom and Brick stiffened. Her sisters’ eyes narrowed from across the cafeteria as they noticed the tension between the table. Blossom glanced at Brick, and he turned his head making eye contact with her. His eyes asked her a silent question, _Can anybody else know?_ She shook her head slightly. He nodded and took a deep breath.

Brick smoothly lied, “Just tryin’ out a new look. Ya’ like it?” 

Mike wasn’t convinced as he stared at Brick intensely. “Haven’t decided…” 

To Brick’s credit he didn’t waver under Mike’s gaze, but Blossom tensed as Mike’s attention turned to her.

“Sooo… I get this idiot doing something like this,” He gestured at Brick, “But you? I have a hard time believing the vice president and top candidate for valedictorian would get a face tattoo.”

Blossom panicked, her mind searching for any excuse. For all her intelligence, Blossom was a terrible liar and couldn’t come up with any excuses. She could only sputter which only served to make Mike more suspicious. Brick turned to her with a face that said, _Seriously?_ She pleaded for him to help with her eyes. Brick rolled his eyes.

She stiffened as he threw his arm around her shoulder. Mike’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. The burning glare from her sisters’ gazes were outmatched only by the burning of her face. Her face sharply turned towards Brick, whose face was calm but there was a hint of pink on his cheeks.

“Sweet lil’ blossy here...” he pinched her cheek with the hand not around her shoulder, “... isn’t one to back down from a dare, especially one from me.”

She turned back towards Mike, hoping that he believed it.

Mike’s eyes narrowed but he nodded slowly, “Huh. Who woulda thunk? Careful V.P. don’t want ol’ Bricky here to influence you.”

Blossom’s eyes widened, but Mike Believe just stuffed a forkful of salad in his mouth. What was _that_ supposed to mean? She looked at Brick who just shrugged and continued eating lunch with his free hand. She was acutely aware of his arm still on her shoulder. It was warm, it must be his fire abilities that made him like a walking heater. As the ‘Ice Queen’ it might have just been the fact that she was usually cold, but this time she had a feeling that wasn’t it. Was she so desperate that she was strangely comforted by Brick’s arm? Brick of all people? She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, and she saw that he was just nonchalantly eating. He must not have realized that his hand was still there. Maybe it wasn’t as big of a deal as she thought. What if he thought Blossom was weird if she said something?

She decided to say nothing. Not because she wanted his arm around her, but because she had determined it wasn’t a big deal. She took a sip from her water bottle satisfied with her reasoning.

Mike cleared his throat and Brick and Blossom both looked up. He had a grin on his face as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Brick seemed confused until Mike’s eyes flitted to the arm on her shoulder. Brick followed his gaze, and his face turned red as he ripped his arm from her shoulder. 

She silently mourned the loss of his arm, not that she liked it or anything. It was freezing in here, that’s the only reason she wished he had kept it there. His hand was now stuffed into his sweater pocket as he determinedly kept his eyes away from her.

Jeez... she knew that she wasn’t the best looking but was he that embarrassed to be in that position with her? She angrily took a bite of her lunch. When the bell rang they all jumped out of their seats, Brick quickly grabbed his bag, clearly desperate to get away from her. 

He was already beginning to walk away with Mike as she grabbed her backpack. She realized that they hadn’t been able to talk during lunch and swallowing her pride she rushed forward.

His eyes were huge as he looked at her hand gripping his arm. 

“We-uh- need to talk about-” She glanced at Mike who was listening closely. She stood on her tiptoes and whispered in his ear, “-a dream.”

His eyes widened at ‘dream’ but he nodded. Mike tapped Brick’s shoulder, and pointed to a non-existent watch on his wrist. She realized that the cafeteria was nearly empty as people rushed to their classes. Only her sisters stood waiting for her at a distance. 

“Meet me in front after school. We’’ll go to Mary’s Diner,” He said before turning and walking away with Mike. Mike said something to him that made Brick shove him slightly.

She smiled slightly and began to walk in the other direction to her next class and was met with blue and green eyes. Oh no.

She sprinted down the hall ignoring the hall monitors yelling and managed to outrun them, but ultimately they had the same class so their questioning would be inevitable.

Blossom sat at her desk and hoped that this class would be a calm and relaxing respite from her chaotic day. The intense stares from either side told her that would not be the case. She hoped that it would be a lecture period so she wouldn’t have to answer their questions. When the teacher announced it would be a free period she slammed her face onto her desk. 

“So Bloss... You didn’t sit with us at lunch today,” Buttercup said sounding suspiciously smug.

Blossom huffed, “I had important school council things to discuss with Mike.”

“Uh-huh.”

Buttercup threw her arm around blossom and pinched her cheek. She looked at Blossom and exaggeratedly blinked at her. 

Buttercup had a smirk on her face, “Now Bubbles… does this look like school council things?”

Bubbles giggled, “No, and neither did the _whisper_ …” Bubbles wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. 

She shoved Buttercup’s hand off her shoulder.

“Ouch. Didn’t do that to lil’ fire-boy, now did you?” 

She scowled and Buttercup continued with a snicker, “First, they get these temporary tattoos together, now they have matching scowls. What’s next?”

She didn't want to let her sisters know that these marks probably weren’t temporary but decided against it. She ignored their giggles and hid her head in her arms. It was going to be a long period. 

When the period ended, she sighed in relief, knowing that the two hyenas she sat in between couldn’t tease her. 

Her sisters walked by her side as she walked towards the front door. 

“Alright, Blossy. Let’s head out, I’m starving and Dad is making a special dinner today.” Buttercup rubbed her stomach dramatically.

“Oh! The newest episode of The Red String Of Fate is out today!” Bubbles exclaimed, and happily skipped through the front door of the school and hopped down the stairs.

Blossom hated to burst her bubble, “Actually, I’m not going home yet.”

They reached the front lawn of the school. Blossom stopped and both sisters paused along with her.

Buttercup looked confused, “Where are you going then? You didn’t mention anything earlier.”

“Mary’s Diner.” Blossom said with no further explanation.

“Ooooh,” Bubbles clapped her hands excitedly, “We’ll go with you, i've been craving a-”

Blossom interrupted her, suddenly shouting “NO!”

Bubbles looked taken aback, and Buttercup looked at her suspiciously, “And why the hell not?”

“Because - because - I - I- you- you can’t,” She said lamely.

“Who are you going wi-” Buttercup's eyes widened as she trailed off. 

Blossom spun around and saw Brick talking to Mike as they exited the school. Mike laughed and said something to Brick. Brick flipped him off and began to walk towards them. Oh no. Once her sisters realized who she was going with, there’s no telling what they’d do. It wasn’t a big deal they were only going as friends. Not even that. They were going as temporary allies against whatever this was. However, Blossom knew that her sisters would jump to conclusions.

Brick finally reached her side and said, “Ready to go?” He tossed his car keys in that air and then caught them. “I hope you don’t mind taking my car, it’s slower than flying but I don’t want to leave it at school.”

“Oh, that's fine. It’ll be a nice break from flying.” They smiled at each other but his gaze shifted to her sisters.

She saw his face become confused as he looked at her sisters. She turned and saw Bubble’s jaw hanging open. Buttercup’s eyes went back and from between them rapidly. Buttercup’s face broke out into a grin. 

“Holy.Shit. Are you guys going on a-” Blossom’s hand quickly clamped over her mouth and she laughed awkwardly, while looking at Brick. His eyes were wide, as Blossom aggressively patted her sister on the back. 

“Well, Buttercup, I’ll see you _later_. I’m helping Brick pick out a present for Mike’s birthday.” She removed her hand from Buttercup’s mouth, Blossom’s eyes dared her to say more.

Buttercup only burst into laughter, and Bubbles said brightly, “We’ll see you later Blossy! I’ll tell Dad you’re going out. Nice seeing you Brick!” 

Brick silently waved goodbye at Bubbles who dragged away a cackling Buttercup. 

She rolled her eyes and turned towards Brick, “All right, where are you parked?”

* * *

Blossom sat across from him in the booth, sipping her chocolate milkshake and ate some of her onion rings. She hadn’t ordered a burger because her father would be very whiny if she didnt eat when she got home. She couldn’t help but be envious of Brick’s mouthwatering burger, Mary’s Diner had the best food. Brick bit into his burger happily. He looked so carefree, not a care in the world. Blossom couldn’t help but smile at how normal this situation felt. Weird dreams and mystery tattoos aside, they must have looked like normal friends, maybe even more. Not that that would ever happen. Her train of thought was interrupted when Brick plucked an onion ring from her plate and stuck his tongue out at her teasingly. Her jaw dropped, which only made him smirk. She pouted, and dramatically began to sniffle. 

He snorted and shook his head, “Drama Queen.” His eyes were lit up and he looked extremely pleased with himself.

Blossom opened her mouth to retort, when a fry was stuffed into her mouth.

She blinked as he burst into laughter. 

“There. Now we’re even,” He said in between laughs.

She begrudgingly chewed and swallowed the fry, then shook her head, “Fine, but watch your back.”

She grabbed a fry off his plate and pointed it at him threateningly before giggling. 

He laughed and raised his hands in mock surrender, “Consider me warned.”

They continued eating their meal until Blossom only had her milkshake left.

Brick sighed with satisfaction and then looked at her. A mischievous smile appeared on his face, “That wasn’t half bad.”

“Half-bad? You practically inhaled that burger,” She said, eyebrows raised.

“No, your excuse earlier,” He leaned forward slightly over the table. “Didn’t think you had a lie in you based off of your reaction to Mike's questioning earlier,” he snickered.

“Oh shut up. I wasn’t expecting the interrogation.”

“Are you telling _me_ to shut up?” He placed a hand over his heart and wiped away a nonexistent tear, “Not very ‘everything nice’ of you.”

She rolled her eyes and leaned over patting his cheek, “Now who’s the drama queen?”

Their laughter was interrupted by their waitress whose name tag red Daisy, “Anything else for you love birds?”

They both froze and she snatched her hand back. Both turned into red stuttering messes. 

Blossom shook her head, “I- we’re not- I mean-”

Brick was also shaking his head, “No- we - it's not a- we’re friends.”

The waitress giggled, _“For now,”_ her voice singing ‘now’ mockingly. Blossom could only watch as the smug middle-aged woman Daisy plopped the check on the table and walked off humming. Blossom glanced at Brick, he held his face in his hands like he was trying to hide. 

“Brick?”

His face lifted from his hands and his red eyes looked at her intensely. Blossom gulped and shifted in her seat.

“Maybe we should talk about the -er- dream,” 

He tugged at the collar of his shirt, looking uncomfortable. “Oh. yeah. Sorry I didn’t bring it up earlier- im probably keeping you- I didn’t mean to- You probably don’t want to be here.” He looked extremely flustered.

She placed a finger on his _surprisingly_ soft lips, “Brick. Relax. I’m having fun.”

Blossom noticed that Brick looked slightly red. Hopefully, he wasn't coming down with something. His chemical x must have been working overtime when it healed his wounds. She was still confused at why he hadn’t healed that day and who had done it to him. She felt a surge of anger, she wanted to scream at him. Why wouldn’t he let her help? What was the point of being a powerpuff girl if she couldn’t even help someone she cared about? 

She swallowed her rising anger and settled with, “Are you okay? You look a little red.”

He nodded and grabbed her hand pulling it away from his mouth so he could speak. Her hand felt so small in his warm hand.

“Yeah-” He tugged at his collar again, “Sorry, It's kinda hot in here.”

Instinctively, Blossom blew cold air on his face, he closed his eyes savoring the cool air coming from her lips.

She whispered, “Better?” 

“Yeah…” Brick said in a low voice and looked at her in a way that made her heart jolt.

He cleared his throat and averted his eyes, “So… the dream…” 

He then explained the dream to her in detail. Based on what he told her, they seemed to have been in the same dream. The only difference was that for her, Brick had disappeared.

She shivered, remembering the extreme cold she had felt. She was always sort of cold, her ice powers making her temperature slightly lower than average. She was also usually immune to extremely cold temperatures, but she had felt humanly weak as she had felt that freezing within her. Blossom had been so cold she felt like she was burning. She remembered hearing her own screams and Brick’s. Blossom had cried out for him but he had abandoned her, and left her alone, again.

She looked up at Brick and saw her worried expression mirrored in his, and he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

She had asked the voice how to save the world. A chill ran through her bones remembering its booming voice.

**Find Brick. Ask Him about the ‘Dark One’.**

* * *

Blossom and Brick silently walked to his car. He opened the passenger door for her, closing it after she slipped in. Brick walked around the car and silently entered. They both sat silently, Blossom’s fingers running along the seam of her seat. She watched as Brick’s fingers tapped the steering wheel nervously. He made no move to start the car, but looked lost in thought.

“Who’s the Dark one?” She blurted before she could stop herself.

He turned towards her, “The dark one? Hell if I know.” 

“It told me to find Brick and ask ‘him’ about the dark one.” 

“Maybe, ‘him’ doesn’t refer to me,” He said thoughtfully, fingers tapping rapidly. She frowned at that, if ‘him’ didn’t refer to Brick then who the hell was it talking about?

Brick tuned his key in the ignition, the engine starting with a low hum. He looked at her expectantly.

She buckled her seat belt and noticed he was still staring at her, “What?”

“Uh- I- don't know where you live,” he said sheepishly. 

“Oh!” She resisted the urge to slap her forehead, “ I live on 107 Pokey Oaks South.” 

He nodded and began driving towards the direction of her house. Blossom noticed that there was some tension in his shoulders as his eyes were focused on the road. Blossom noticed that the red marks on his face hadn’t faded, and figured that hers most likely hadn’t either. The lines emphasized his strong sharp jawline and Blossom had to admit to herself that it made him slightly more handsome. Blossom resisted the urge to trace the lines on his face with her hand, instead she held her own hands tightly in her lap. 

The car pulled in front of her house, and Brick killed the ignition. Blossom’s hands were white, as she practically cut off the circulation from her hands with her tight grip.

Brick’s hand gently lifted her fingers from her hand, saving it from her constricting grip. Blossom’s head snapped towards his face. He had moved closer to her, his face was now centimeters away from hers and his bright red eyes made intense eye contact with her. 

“Snowflake. We’ll figure this out together... I promise,” he whispered, voice slightly husky.

At the word ‘promise’ she stiffened, but she nodded rapidly anyway. Together. Promises broken the voice had said. Could she still trust him? Despite all logic, Blossom knew that she could trust Brick with her life. Logic was overshadowed by her pounding heart and the close proximity. Blossom’s eyes darted to his lips, one slight movement forward, and she would do something that she could never take back. Blossom’s willpower wasn’t as strong as she thought it was, especially with the way he was looking at her. 

A sharp knock on the window saved her from her inevitable mistake. She squeaked, face snapping toward the window’s direction. _Oh no._ It was Ms. Keane, now in full ‘mom’ mode, her arms crossed and eyes narrowed. Her face burned as she quickly tried to unbuckle her seatbelt. Brick was now pressed against the driver’s door, in an effort to create as much distance between them as possible .Brick looked absolutely panicked, his face red. The metal portion of her seatbelt was stuck in the buckle. She tugged at it uselessly, and Brick moved forward from the opposite end of the car he had fled to. 

He wiggled the buckle and muttered under his breath, “Sorry, this buckle always gets stuck. I’ve been meaning to fix it,” and finally freed her with a satisfying click.

She scrambled out of the car, face still on fire. 

Ms. Keane walked towards the driver’s side of the car. Brick rolled the window down and Ms. Keane leaned over to speak to him through the window.

“Well… thank you Brick for bringing Blossom home _safely_.” 

Brick’s only response was nervous and rapid nodding, and Blossom cringed inwardly.

“Oh! Silly me,” her mother shook her head, “How rude of me, would you like to join us for dinner?”

Blossom and Brick blanched at her invitation. Her mother just stood there smiling, but even Blossom could see that the glint in her eye, made the invitation more of a command.

He gulped, “Uh- ye-yes. Thank you for your hospitality, Ms. Keane.” 

Her mother smiled a little too widely and cheerily walked back inside the house, leaving Brick who rapidly tried to exit the car. He locked the car door and stiffly walked to Blossom’s side. They both walked to the front door, and Blossom’s hand stopped on the doorknob. 

He looked at her questioningly, Blossom only mouthed, “Sorry.”

His eyes widened but she didn’t wait for his response as she turned the doorknob and entered the house. 

* * *

### ~ Brick~

It was nicely decorated, with most of the furniture being a modern style. Brick could see the television playing some sort of rom com, as the protagonist chased a woman through the airport. Bubbles was seated on their blue couch, eyes glued onto the screen. She was so invested that she didn't acknowledge them entering the room. Buttercup however was sitting upside down on the couch, feet in the air and head hanging off the seat. She looked incredibly bored but her face broke into a mischievous grin when she saw Brick and Blossom entering.

It made Brick uneasy and he could tell that Blossom had tensed as Buttercup sprang from her seat and rushed over to them.

“Bricky, Bricky, Bricky… What brings you here? How long does it take to pick a present?” Buttercup’s grin was like the Cheshire cat.

Brick blinked uncomprehendingly, “Present?” 

Suddenly, Blossom’s elbow jabbed his side, and he remembered Blossom’s excuse from earlier.

“AH- the present! Mike is incredibly picky, and I want it to be just right.” Brick glanced at Blossom who just nodded solemnly.

“Uh-huh.” 

Brick bristled as Buttercup looked at him skeptically. Brick felt extremely uncomfortable, with every second that passed, Brick felt as if Buttercup could see his inner thoughts. Buttercup must know that he had enjoyed their litte- er- hang out a little too much. She must have known that when Blossom laughed, his heart skipped a beat as her nose crinkled slightly and pink tinged her face. Brick was sure that Buttercup knew that he thought the markings on Blossom’s face only made her more beautiful as they emphasized her bright pink eyes. Not that he liked her, just that he could appreciate her beauty … aesthetically. Brick was practically sweating bullets as he tried to think of something to say. Luckily for him, he didn’t have to think of anything as Bubble’s scream made them all clamp their hands over their ears.

Bubbles sped over in a flash of blue and stood next to Buttercup.

“A visitor! Hey Brick! Buttercup…” Bubbles shook her finger at Buttercup as if scolding her, “you didn’t even offer to take his jacket. What kind of hostess are you?”

Buttercup huffed angrily, “I didn't invite him.” 

Bubbles smacked the back of her head and turned to them smiling widely. “Dinner’s almost ready,” She pointed at Professor Utonium humming while making dinner in an apron. 

Blossom grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to the kitchen and away from her sisters. Brick let her lead him away with no complaints.

She opened the fridge door and turned to him, “ Want anything to drink?”

“Just some water please.”

She nodded and went to the cupboard by her father and grabbed a glass cup. Her father didn’t seem to notice as he angrily fiddled with the toaster.

“YEOWCH” her father exclaimed as he snatched his hand away from the toaster. Professor Utonium looked at his hand sadly and began to glare at the toaster.

“Professor? You okay?” Blossom seemed concerned as she filled his cup with water. The professor looked up just realizing that Blossom was there.

“It’s this evil toaster, I can’t seem to fix it after the last time I tried to upgrade it.” 

“Maybe I can help,” Brick blurted. 

Both Utoniums spun towards him, eyes wide. The Professor didn’t seem to be bothered by the fact that there was a teenage boy currently in the house. Not that he had anything to be bothered about. However, the professor did seem to be bothered by the fact that Brick had offered to fix something the professor couldn’t.

“Well now- I hardly think you could…” His voice trailed off as BrIck walked towards them and picked up the ‘evil’ toaster. 

Brick began to fiddle with it, grabbing a screwdriver that the professor had left on the counter in his botched attempt at repairing it. Brick could feel their eyes on him as he began to repair the toaster. It was a simple mistake, the Professor had rewired a cricut incorrectly which threw the whole machine off. He could see a strange power source that normally wouldn't be in a toaster. That must be the upgrade the professor was talking about. In theory it might have worked, but the professor was using it the wrong way. Brick moved it to a different area in the machine rearranging the wiring. He quickly slammed the panel shut and placed it back on the table. 

“Try it now,” he said quietly. Blossom’s eyes were wide and her grip on the cup was tight. The professor only picked it up and tried to use it. Even though Brick knew that it would work, he couldn’t help but hold his breath as the professor placed the slice of bread in the toaster.

A quick ding came from the toaster a second after he placed the bread into the slot. Out shot a piece of toast into the Professor’s hand. 

The professor jumped holding a piece of perfect toast triumphantly, “Behold! Toast!”

The Professor outstretched his hand to Brick, much to Blossom’s surprise.

Brick firmly shook it and the professor’s eyes were shining, “My boy, where did you learn engineering?That was very impressive.”

Brick was surprised at the praise and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly,” I-uh -I’m self taught. But I work at the auto shop in town.”

The Professor inspected the toaster and shook his head, “You’re much too good for a mechanic’s shop.”

Brick didn’t know what to say and only remained silent, inwardly smiling at the recognition. Professor Utonium was a genius and to hear someone like him be impressed, made Brick extremely happy. He glanced at Blossom who was studying him, with an impressed look on her face. The Professor suddenly slapped a hand on his back nearly making Brick jump out of his skin.

“Y’know, I’ve been meaning to get an assistant, what do you say? All the interns they’ve offered me are so incompetent that I could never keep one. You’ll be well compensated of course.”

Brick’s jaw dropped, “I-uh- don’t know what to say.” 

A booming laugh erupted from the professor, “You could say yes.”

“Alright. Looking forward to working with you.”

He smiled and the professor beamed but his face froze when Ms. Keane walked in. 

“Cutie-Patootie...can I talk to you?” She said a little too sweetly as she noticed how friendly the Professor was towards Brick. Ms. Keane who was usually very nice to him didn’t seem very happy after the car incident and was especially unhappy now that Brick was inside their home. Brick knew that he had a bad history but he was surprised at Ms. Keane’s hostility. The only explanation was that she didn’t really think he was a good kid, and didn't trust him in her house. He couldn’t blame her, he had done a lot of bad things in the past, but his chest tightened knowing that Ms.Keane still held a grudge. She seemed angry at the professor for some reason too.

Brick looked confusedly at Blossom, who made eye contact with him, she quickly grabbed Brick by the arm and said brightly, “We’ll set the table!”

Ms. Keane’s eyes noticed Blossom’s hand on his arm and Ms. Keane’s eyebrows furrowed, Brick didn’t have time to determine what that look meant before he was yanked into their dining room. 

He could hear the muffled scoldings from Ms.Keane and the Professor's apologies. Brick could only wonder if they were arguing about him. Blossom hummed as she set the plates on the table, she seemed to have calmed down from earlier in the car, which was a huge relief. He hoped he hadn’t made her uncomfortable. Seeing her so concerned in the car had worried him. He was so desperate to comfort her and when she had looked at him, her wide pink eyes filled with relief, he had almost done something that reluctant allies definitely shouldn't do.

Suddenly his phone rang, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw it was Boomer. Brick knew that if he didn’t answer the call then he would never hear the end of it.

Blossom watched him closely as he answered.

**“Brooooooo! Where are you!!”**

Brick held the phone slightly further from his ear, “What do you want Boomer.”

**“Butch told me you went to the diner and didn’t invite meee.”**

Brick pinched the bridge of his nose, “Do you need something?”

**“Yeah! Dinner! Can you bring me a burger?”**

“I'm not at the diner anymore,” Brick spat into his phone.

**“Then where-” Boomer was cut off by Butch in the background, “He’s with his girllllfriend.”**

Brick’s facepalmed as he heard Boomers insinuating voice, **“OooOO, who’s the lucky gal?”**

“THERE IS NO-” Brick paused and glanced at Blossom. She was looking at him questioningly. He chuckled awkwardly and mouthed, ‘brothers’. She giggled but nodded knowingly, her giggle made his heart do a mini-flip in his chest. 

He heard Butch in the background, **“Its the Ice queen, he’s probably warming her up as we speak!”**

Boomer cackled, **“Apologies for interrupting your fun! Carry on!”**

“BOOMER! IT’S NOT WHAT YOU THINK YOU LITTLE-” Brick’s rant cut off as Boomer hung up on him. When Brick got home that cheeky little bastard was going to get it. He shoved his phone into his pocket angrily. 

Blossom giggled again, “They really know how to get under your skin, huh?”

“You have no idea.”

She turned and Brick followed her gaze to her sisters who were bringing food from the kitchen to the table arguing the whole way. Ms. Keane and Professor Utonium followed, the Professor looked like a scolded puppy and Ms. Keane appeared extremely pleased with herself.

She looked at him with a smirk on her face, “I think I have some idea.”

Dinner was pleasant as Brick discussed a variety of projects he was working on with the professor, while Blossom listened to him intently. He had begun to relax as Buttercup and Bubbles had decided to take a break from interrogating him and focused on eating their dinner. Blossom chatted happily about a new book she was reading, her eyes sparkled as she talked about an interesting plot point in the book. He couldn’t look away from her even as she stopped talking and looked at him expectantly. 

Her pink eyes bore into him and her soft lips said, “Brick?”

He blinked and snapped out of his trance, “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

She rolled her eyes and continued while he took a sip of his water, “ I _said,_ Did you hear about-”

Ms. Keane cut Blossom off abruptly and with a surprisingly sinister smile said, “Sooo... Brick.” 

Brick continued to drink his water anxiously while Blossom only looked at her mother figure questioningly, waiting for her to continue.

“...Got a girlfriend?” 

Brick choked on his water coughing and hacking as Blossom patted his back concernedly. 

“Mom!” Blossom admonished.

“What?” She said innocently, “I’m just trying to learn more about your… _guest.”_

Brick’s face was red and he wasn’t sure if it was from the coughing or the embarrassing question. Blossom’s hand began to rub his back in a circular motion absentmindedly. 

Buttercup chimed in from the opposite end of the table, “Yeah, what’s wrong with the question? It’s a simple yes or no.”

Bubbles finished her thought, “It’s an important question! Especially if the answer is yes.”

“And why is that?” Blossom hissed. Her tone surprised Brick, but her harsh attitude was a stark contrast with the continued gentle rubbing on his back.

“Isn't it obvious? I don’t think Brick’s girlfriend would appreciate the date you went on earlier.” 

Ms. Keane’s eyes popped out her head and she whirled around to face him and hissed, “Date?”

Blossom and Brick blanched and yelled out in unison, “IT WASN’T A DATE!”

Her sisters cackled, Ms. Keane fumed, and Professor Utonium casually continued eating his peas.

“What does this look like then?” Buttercup then held her hair up in a fake ponytail and batted her eyes excessively. Bubbles held up a finger under her nose as a fake mustache, in an attempt to look like a boy. 

Buttercup began to speak in a high pitched voice, in an attempt to sound like Blossom, “Oh Brick!” She then patted Bubbles, who was apparently supposed to be Brick in this situation, on the cheek. 

Buttercup continued in ‘Blossom’s voice’, “I’m going to tease you mercilessly to hide I have feelings for you!”

Blossom turned pink next to him and she cradled her face in her hands, looking positively mortified.

Bubbles responded in a gruff voice, “Oh Blossom! I’m going to stuff this fry in your mouth in an attempt to flirt with you! You’re the only one I tolerate so hopefully you get the hint when I toss my arm around your shoulder at lunch.”

Now it was Brick’s turn to blush. He tried to make a rebuttal but only sputtered as he mumbled incoherent nonsense. Oh god. The Professor and Ms. Keane are going to kill him. He was a dead man because Bubbles and Buttercup were saying things that weren’t even true. Okay! Maybe they were a little bit true but they still shouldn’t have said it! He began to panic. Oh. God. Blossom was never going to talk to him again. 

“Hey!” Everyone turned to a now angry Blossom.“Were you watching us at the diner?” 

Blossom’s ears were practically blowing out steam. He realized she had a point. The - er- fry interaction had happened at the diner, so the girls must have been watching them. 

Bubbles and Buttercup let out a panicked, “NO!” Then in a flash of blue and green streaks they were gone. 

“Well- this has been fun!” The professor began to pick up his plate and grabbed Ms. Keane’s arm. Ms. Keane was glaring at Brick and oh man, if looks could kill. 

“We’re going to start washing up but I’ll see you soon for your internship,” The Professor said cheerily, and dragged a fuming Ms.Keane into the other room.

Blossom and Brick sat next to each other silently. Brick was conscious of her hand still on his back. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. Her pink eyes were focused on the table as she chewed her lip thoughtfully. Brick rapidly tapped his fingers on his thigh, he wasn't sure what was faster the tapping or his heart rate. 

Brick’s phone rang again, he scowled before answering it.

“What?” He snapped.

Boomer’s voice screamed at him through the phone **“Brickkkkk!”**

“What is it, Boom?”

**“Butch set the-”**

Butch’s voice cut Boomer off, **“Don’t tell him about the T.V.!”**

Brick’s eyes shot open, “What the hell happened to the T.V.?”

Butch screamed from the, backgorund, **“Don’t worry Boom! I’m putting out the flames!”**

“Flames?” Brick exclaimed.

 **“Uhhhh-”**

click.

Boomer quickly hung up leaving a fuming Brick angrily holding his phone. Blossom’s hand began to slowly rub his hands in a circular motion. Her reassuring hand calmed him with every circle, and he let out a slow breath of air.

“Better?” Blossom’s lips were pursed with concern. He gave her a reassuring smile.

“Yeah… I have to go, my idiot brothers are fucking up the house.”

She frowned but nodded anyway and rose from her seat. He also stood up and followed her to the door. He paused right before exiting and waved goodbye at the Utoniums in the living room. They all waved goodbye enthusiastically, some more angrily then others. Mainly Ms.Keane. He opened the front door and stepped out. He turned to say goodbye to Blossom and saw that all of the Utoniums in the living room were watching them closely.

“I will… see you at school.” He said awkwardly, he could see Ms.Keane’s scowl from here. Blossom’s eyebrows raised at his strange goodbye. Blossom turned and saw her family’s stares. She scowled and stepped outside with him and closed the door, effectively giving them some privacy from their prying eyes.

She shifted awkwardly and sheepishly said, “Sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry about it, my brothers are way worse.”

She giggled, “Based on your phone call, I have to agree.”

“Yeah, sorry that I have to leave so soon.”

“It's fine, we’ll hang out again soon.” 

Brick’s eyes widened at that prospect, “Yeah, looking forward to it.”

She smiled and her hand reached for the doorknob but Brick’s hand grabbed her wrist. Blossom’s face turned toward him questioningly. 

“Wait.” He swallowed hard, he felt nervous for no reason. It wasn’t even that big of a deal but his stomach churned anyway. 

“I don’t have your phone number,” he said quietly. He looked down at his feet, not wanting to meet her eyes.

“O-OH!” She pulled out her phone and opened up the option for a new contact. She held it out to him and he entered his number quietly. He decided to leave the contact empty and let her decide what to put him under. She quickly typed something in and put the phone back in her pocket.

“I’ll see you later Blossom,” He smiled and shoved his hands in his pockets. 

“Maybe even tonight in your dreams,” she giggled.

Brick laughed but his laughter died when she stood on her tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss on his cheek. She quickly entered her house without another word, leaving a dumbfounded Brick on her doorstep. His hand was on the cheek she had kissed, her lips had been softer than he had imagined. He didn’t like the butterflies that were forming in his stomach after that. She was just being friendly, he shouldn’t feel like this.

The drive home was a blur and he was still dazed when he got home. He opened the door and when he entered the living room tossed his keys on the coffee table and sat on the couch. Brick was so out of it that he didn’t notice the still smoking t.v. in front of him.

Butch and Boomer sat on the other couch nervously looking at eachother. Brick had a slight smile on his face as he stared out into space. Her goodbye played on repeat in his head. He didn't pay attention to Brick and Boomer when they anxiously approached him.

“Brick? I’m sorry about the -uh- t.v.”

Butch’s apology snapped Brick out of whatver trance he was in. 

“Huh? Oh, its fine,” Brick waved off Butch’s apology. Brick had forgotten about the T.V. 

He had other things on his mind, and had a hard time thinking about anything else. Butch and Booomer looked dumbfounded at his lack of angry response but he couldn’t bring himself to get angry right now. 

Boomer spoke up, ”Are you okay? You seem kind of off.” 

“Oh I'm fine, just tired.” He walked into his room and opened the drawer to his dresser. He changed into sweats and took off his shirt. He was actually tired but felt apprehensive about sleeping. Brick sat on the edge of his bed now shirtless and contemplated whether or not he should pull an all nighter. 

Butch and Boomer walked into his room and noticed he was ready for bed.

“You going to sleep now, boss?”

“Maybe. Haven’t decided yet.”

Boomer sat next to him on the bed. 

“I've been meaning to ask… what's with the marks on your face and back?”

“I have absolutely no idea Boom.” Birck paused, “Wait. DId you say back?”

“Yeah, i mean you can't see it but there’s this huge tattoo there.”

Brick tried to turn to see it but couldn’t twist his neck enough to see. 

Brick handed Boomer his phone, “Can you take a picture so I can see?”

Boomer nodded and moved behind him to take a quick picture. When Boomer handed him the phone. Brick inspected the picture of his Back carefully. The markings were the same color as the lines on his face. There was a large circle with a smaller circle inside. Between the two circles, weird symbols were written. In the center of that circle, there were outlines of two hands tilted diagonally. These markings covered his whole back, and were going to be too large to cover up. He had missed swim class today when he had the mandatory meeting with Ms.Keane so no one had been able to point it out. How the hell was he going to hide this tomorrow? Did Blossom have markings too? He tried not to think about intricate markings down her bare back slowly leading to - Brick coughed and shook his head trying to clear those thoughts from his head.

Butch looked concerned, “Brick what the hell did you-”

Brick’s phone rang and cut Butch off.

Brick answered with, ”Hello?”

Blossom’s voice was on the other side. **“Hi Brick, I was calling so that you could save my number.”**

“Oh yeah! Will do.” 

Brick ignored his brother's questioning looks and pointed to the door indicating they should leave. Both brothers reluctantly nodded and shut the door behind them when they left.

He continued his conversation, “Are you going to sleep yet?”

**“Not yet… To be honest, I’m kind of scared to sleep.”**

“Yeah, I don’t really want to sleep myself.”

Their conversation turned into a comfortable silence. Should he bring up the symbols on his back? He didn’t want to worry her, and had a hard time trying to figure out how to ask if she had looked at herself recently. 

**“Brick?”** Her melodic voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah?”

**“Do you have any preferences for your contact name?”**

Brick laughed, “You could put me down as the guy of your dreams, literally.” He wanted to kick himself as soon as he said it. Guy of your dreams? Really?

He was relieved when she laughed, **“I'll do you one better. Hottie with the body. Get it?”**

It was his turn to laugh, “Hottie with the body huh? That one’s new. But y’know what, Bloss?”

**“What?”**

“We already have nicknames for our contacts don’t we? Not that I don’t like ‘hottie with the body’.”

**“You’re right, plus I can’t let that contact name get to your head.”**

They both laughed together, and Brick added her as a contact in his phone as ‘Snowflake’. Little did Brick know that in her own room she changed his to ‘Firefly’ at the same time.

Brick continued to talk to Blossom over the phone until two in the morning. They laughed and talked before they slowly drifted off to sleep, their phone call still going. 

_Brick was in a dark tunnel he didn’t recognize. He was laying on the ground and got up slowly. His head hurt, which was strange considering this was most likely a dream. He saw inscriptions etched into the ceiling of the tunnel and his eyes followed the markings to more inscriptions on the wall. Stalagmites and stalactites hung from the ceiling and jutted out from the ground. He could hear rushing water in the distance and saw that the tunnel was damp. Droplets of water dripped down from the hanging stalactites. His fingers traced over the indentations in the rock. What did these strange symbols mean? He heard a soft grunt behind him, and he spun around ready to fight whatever it was. He breathed a sigh of relief, when he saw it was Blossom trying to pick herself up off the ground. He walked over and held out his hand to help her up. She looked up with relief when she saw it was Brick and took his hand gratefully._

_Blossom was wearing an oversized t-shirt with the only indication she was wearing anything else was a sliver of blue from her shorts underneath the shirt. Brick couldn’t help but think about what she would look like in one of his shirts. She saw her eyes widen as her eyes trailed down from his face. He looked down and realized that he was still shirtless. His cheeks flamed as he cleared his throat, and pretended not to notice that he was not wearing a shirt._

_He gestured at the ceiling, “What do you make of this?”_

_She flushed and looked away from him and at the ceiling. “I have no idea. Where are we?”_

_“I don't know, do you think we’re supposed to find it when we’re awake?”_

_“Maybe...” She squinted at the markings, “it would help if we had a clue as to where we are…”_

**Ask Him.**

_The familiar voice boomed through the cave and instinctively Brick grabbed Blossom and held her tightly. ___

____

**The Dark One.**

____

_A harsh wind began to blow through the cave, nearly knocking them off their feet. Brick held Blossom tightly against his chest, in other circumstances he might have been embarrassed. Right now he could do little other than grit his teeth and brace himself against the powerful gusts of air. A familiar pain began to burn through him. He felt Blossom’s skin become colder as she shivered in his arms. He tightened his grip around her as he began to burn from the inside out, steam formed between him as her body temperature dropped and his rose._

____

**You must stop The Dark One.**

____

_A searing pain coursed through them and even though they were both screaming, Brick held onto Blossom. He wasn’t going to abandon her this time, he would never leave her again._

____


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! I recently had a hand injury and couldn't type much! I'm sorry if this chapter isn't edited as well but I hope you enjoy it regardless! Thank you for your comments! I read all of them but sometimes I don't know how to respond lol.
> 
> Enjoy!

Chapter 3 

Blossom’s screams continued as she woke up. She wasn’t even in the dream anymore but she was sobbing in her bed. She clawed at her own arms leaving crescent indents in her skin from her nails. She had thrown off her covers in her sleep and felt an overwhelming chill. 

Bubbles and Buttercup burst into her room and saw her curled up on her bed sobbing and screaming. Their hair was unkempt as they had clearly been woken by Blossom's screaming. What kind of big sister was she? She didn't mean to worry them but this cold that was consuming her was overwhelming and left little room for her to be conscious of her actions. 

The warmth that was keeping her safe disappeared, and had left her to freeze alone in her bed. She had never felt like this before, usually her ice abilities didn’t allow her to be affected by lower temperatures but it was freezing here.

Buttercup rushed forward and tried to rub her back reassuringly. Bubbles stood in the doorway, her face filled with complete panic.

  
  


“Bloss? Shhhhh it's okay. You’re okay,” Buttercup tried to soothe her and pulled Blossom into a hug. Blossom couldn’t respond as she silently cried, still shaking. She still felt that cold invading her body. She desperately clutched Buttercup, but Buttercup was nowhere near as warm as Brick was. He was the only thing that had lessened her pain in the dream.

  
  


“Jesus. Blossom you’re fucking freezing.” 

  
  


Blossom hissed through clenched teeth, “Brick-where- I need-”

  
  


Buttercup looked at Blossom who was pale and clearly in pain. A slight layer of frost was beginning to form on her skin.

  
  


Buttercup’s eyes widened, “Oh my god. Bubbles, call the professor!” Bubbles bolted out of the room. 

  
  


“Blossom. Blossom! What can I do for you?”

Blossom was so cold she was burning, she could see that the sheets around her were beginning to freeze, so she let go of Buttercup. Blossom was worried that she was going to give Buttercup frostbite, she saw slight frost on Buttercup’s shirt where her arms had touched Buttercup.She wasn’t about to put her sister in potential danger, internal freezing or not. Blossom hugged herself, knees under her chin as she tried in vain to conserve her warmth.

  
  


“Stay back. I'm freezing everything I touch.”

  
  


Ms. Keane and The Professor ran into her room, followed by a crying Bubbles. 

  
  


The Professor felt her forehead, “Blossom, what happened? You’re freezing.” 

  
  


Blossom couldn't answer mainly because she had no idea what happened, that wind had enveloped Blossom and Brick as he clutched her tightly. Oh God. Was Brick okay? What if he was going through the same thing? Was this the Dark One’s work? Him. She had been so stupid. How could she not have realized it sooner? That evil lobster had disappeared years ago without a trace, she should have known that he would be back. What did this mean? Could she even find Him? Her concerns rose but her body temperature dropped.

  
  


Ms.Keane stood next to Bubbles and held Bubbles comfortingly. Buttercup stood by her side and rubbed her arms, Blossom’s state was lowering the temperature of the entire room. She had to get out of the room before she made a mess. She stood up from her bed but immediately doubled over. 

  
  


She needed help, how was she going to warm herself up? The Professor looked overwhelmed and confused as he gestured for Buttercup to go to the linen closet. Oh, she hated to worry him, and clearly he had no idea what was happening. Who could solve her problem? Brick. He was the only one with powers like hers but he had fire. She crumbled to the ground in extreme pain, she would have to tell her family to get him, regardless of how it might appear. Through gritted teeth she managed to say, “Brick… call… freezing…” 

  
  


The professor picked her up off the floor and carried her back to the bed and wrapped her with her blanket. Buttercup walked over and began to help the professor cover her with multiple blankets in an effort to warm her up. The blankets did nothing for her chill, but she clutched the blankets tightly nonetheless.

“Brick? Bloss, why would we call Brick?” 

  
  


Blossom could feel a layer of ice forming on the inside of her blanket, she desperately reached for Buttercup, eyes filled with panic. “Please.” 

  
  


Buttercup showed visible fear for the first time and quickly reached for Blossom’s phone which had been knocked to the floor in the chaos. She quickly called Brick, so concerned that she didn’t make a comment on his contact name.

  
  


She placed the phone on speaker as she continued to try to warm Blossom up. The room was tense while the phone rang. 

  
  


Boomer's voice answered the phone, “ **Blossom? My brother is a little- er- preoccupied… so he’ll call you back later.”**

  
  


Buttercup responded on behalf of Blossom. **“** No! It's Buttercup, listen to me. Tell Brick he needs to get over here right now.”

  
  


**“I don't know what this is about but Brick is sick and should not go anywhere right now. He has a fever or somethin’.”**

  
  


Blossom stiffened, whatever was happening to her had to do with that wind. She could only hope that he was okay. There was shuffling on his side of the phone and Blossom heard muffled yelling about ice.

  
  


“Listen to me! Blossom is freezing to death! She needs Brick!”

  
  


**“Freezing? Holy shit. Brick is… Butch! we gotta go!”** More incoherent arguing played over the speaker.  **“We’ll be right there- Butch! Put out that fir-”** The phone call abruptly ended, leaving the room in stunned silence. Blossom laid there shivering and leaned into the hotpad Ms.Keane had brought her. It was only a temporary relief, as the hot pad quickly began to turn into an ice pack. 

  
  


“What the hell is going on…” Ms keane muttered under her breath, unshed tears in her eyes. Blossom could only mumble incoherently in response. Blossom trembled underneath the pile of blankets. She heard rapid pounding on their front door and Buttercup shoved past Bubbles in a green blur to answer it. Blossom noted that Bubbles was freaking out in the corner and shivering. 

  
  


“S’okay Bubbles…” She tried to say in a reassuring way but her teeth chattered. “You should… put on a sweater.” Bubbles nodded and pulled on one of Blossom’s sweaters from the closet. 

  
  


All their heads turned when they saw Boomer and Butch carrying in a flushed and panting shirtless Brick. 

  
  


Ms. Keane’s eyes widened, “What the hell is going on?” 

  
  


Brick stumbled towards Blossom ignoring Ms.Keane. Ms.Keane moved forward and blocked his path. She held a hand out to stop him, and firmly pushed him back.

  
  


“Brick, this is not appropriate. You’re not even wearing a-”

  
  


Brick’s eyes blazed as he swayed on his feet but glared at Ms.Keane anyway. Blossom shoved the blankets off of herself and reached for him desperately. Brick saw her struggling to get up and attempted to move around Ms.Keane, his eyes fraught with distress. Ms. Keane placed a firm hand on his chest, in an effort to keep him back, but quickly snatched her hand back from him. Ms. Keane hissed in pain as she looked from her now burned hand back to him.

  
  


Brick stumbled toward Blossom and when he reached her, he scooped her up in a hug and they sat on the floor. Steam began rolling off of them where his searing heat and her ice made contact. She gripped him tightly, and his arms enveloped her in his warmth. She couldn’t help but cry in relief as his heat began to alleviate some of the cold she felt. 

  
  


He held her tighter and began muttering, “I'm sorry. You’re okay. We’re going to be okay.”

  
  


Blossom could hear her parents muttering and Buttercup soothing Bubbles. The ice on her skin began to melt as Brick held her. She peeled her face away from his chest and looked up at him, tears still running down her face, “I thought you were going to disappear.” 

  
  


He wiped her tears and his grip around her intensified as he stared into her eyes. “I’ll never leave you alone.” Blossom smiled gratefully and dug her cool face into the crook of his neck. He only rocked her slowly back and forth as their body temperatures slowly began to return to normal. She felt safe, safer then she had felt in a long time. Being in his arms was very different than when she was comforted by Buttercup. Though it may have seemed somewhat fantastical and somewhat delusional she couldn’t help but feel that in this moment they were made for each other.

  
  
  
  


~Buttercup~

Buttercup watched Brick and Blossom’s interaction absolutely dumbfounded. Brick was holding onto Blossom like she was his anchor to the world. Buttercup wasn’t sure what to make of the recent friendship between Brick and Blossom at first. Originally, she thought it was some sort of stupid infatuation with Blossom, he wouldn’t be the first guy to try and get into her sister’s pants. 

  
  


Now as she looked at the way he tenderly held her against him, as if shielding her from everything and anything, made Buttercup realize something. Whatever this was, it wasn’t a silly crush. He deeply cared for Blossom, maybe even as far as… loved… her. Despite his aloofness over the years, she had noticed glances and longing looks where no one else had. She knew that Blossom was hurt by the abrupt cut off of their friendship that to this day was unexplained. Blossom was completely engulfed in his arms, and Blossom seemed to be calming down. When Buttercup had tried to hold Blossom, Blossom had been desperate, desperate for something besides Buttercup. Buttercup now realized that something was actually someone, Brick. Their embrace was working as she noticed that the ice surrounding them began to melt, and the temperature of the room began to drop to normal. She walked over to where her family and Brick’s brothers stood as they watched the pair comfort one another.

  
  


Boomer was awkwardly patting Bubbles on the back, in an attempt to calm her down. He looked wildly uncomfortable as he looked to Butch for help, whose only response was to shrug.

  
  


Ms. Keane was questioning the brothers.

  
  


“Tell me what the **hell** is going on here.”

  
  


Butch only shook his head, “We dont know what’s going on. Brick woke us all up screaming about Blossom-” Ms.Keane bristled but Butch continued on, “-then he got a fever or somethin’ because he was starting to overheat. We knew something was seriously wrong when you called us and he got so hot that things started to catch on fire.”

  
  


He pointed at Ms.Keane’s hand, “Sorry about that, he didn’t do it on purpose.”

  
  


Ms. Keane stayed silent and turned to look at The Professor. The Professor looked at the couple thoughtfully, “How peculiar… similar symptoms at the exact same time.”

  
  


Ms Keane looked at the blatant display of tender affection from Brick towards Blossom as Brick rocked her back and forth soothingly. 

  
  


Ms.Keane scowled, switching into protective mama bear mode, “I- didn’t know they were so close…are they-” 

  
  


Buttercup shook her head in response, “I don’t know what led to this but last week they could barely tolerate one another.” Buttercup could only imagine what had led her sister to be vulnerable like this. Blossom, the almighty commander and leader never let her guard down. Buttercup knew that Blossom had to maintain this facade of heroism and would sacrifice herself for the city. Even with her and Bubbles, Blossom always kept this illusion of control. Blossom held the weight of the world on her shoulders and never let anyone help her, always worried about everyone else. She had never seen Blossom like this, and Buttercup couldn’t help but feel slightly jealous of how Blossom opened herself up to Brick despite not even talking to him last week. Buttercup could only hope that Blossom would let Brick help her carry the weight.

  
  


She glanced over to the two leaders and Bubbles followed her gaze. Buttercup’s eyes softened as she saw Brick stroke Blossom’s hair while she silently cried, her shoulders shook with every silent sob.

  
  


Bubbles spoke up for the first time, “We should… give them some space. Whatever is going on we can question them tomorrow morning.” 

  
  


Ms.Keane looked outraged, “Like hell i'm going to leave that shirtless boy alone in my teenage daughter’s bedroom.”

  
  


Boomer responded, “With all due respect Ms.Keane, I have to disagree with you. My brother is the most respectful guy I know and frankly I think they’re both not exactly in the proper mindset to do any of those things you’re thinking of.”

  
  


Ms. Keane looked angrily at the professor who simply nodded, “I’m inclined to agree. Come on sweetie, It's been a long night, we’ll all talk in the morning. You boys can sleep on the couch. Bubbles can you get them some blankets?”

  
  


Bubbles nodded and they all shuffled out of the room. Buttercup followed, but took one last glance at Blossom. Blossom’s fear was gone as her eyes fluttered closed, falling asleep in Brick’s arms from sheer exhaustion. Brick looked at Blossom, his gaze was soft, a stark contrast to his usual demeanor. Brick gently tucked a stray hair behind her ear, Buttercup had never seen Brick be anything close to gentle. Brick’s own eyes closed and he looked at peace with Blossom in his arms. Buttercup left the room knowing that her sister was in safe hands.

  
  


Buttercup quietly closed the door behind her and began to walk to her own room, but paused as she passed Bubble’s room. She knocked lightly before entering. Bubble’s room was messy, a variety of school books strewn around the room. Her outfit for tomorrow was tossed over her desk chair, anda variety of stuffed animals were on her bed, but one in particular had fallen to the floor. Buttercup scooped down and picked up octi. She placed him besides Bubbles who was already in her bed.

  
  


“Bubs? You holding up okay?”

  
  


Bubbles looked at her from where she was huddled under her blanket.

  
  


“I’m fine, I’m not scared.” The slight waver in Bubble’s voice gave away how worried she really was. Buttercup frowned and sat on the edge of Bubble’s bed. In other circumstances she would poke fun but she could tell this was serious.

  
  


“It’s okay to be scared… It's not like this is the boogeyman. I was scared too.”

  
  


“Really?”

  
  


“Yeah, I was worried. But she’s okay, Brick is taking care of her.”

  
  


“I’m not a baby… but can you stay with me?”

  
  


“Of course.” 

  
  


Bubbles shifted over leaving space for Buttercup to lay down. Buttercup laid down and realized how drained she was.

  
  


“Good night, Buttercup.”

  
  


“Night, Bubs.”

  
  


When Buttercup woke up the next morning, Bubbles was still asleep. She stretched, her back cracking and walked out of the room. She walked down the stairs and saw Ms.Keane and the professor drinking coffee and chatting. She saw Boomer sleeping on the couch and Butch was sleeping on the floor beside him snoring loudly. 

  
  


Ms.Keane looked up and smiled at Buttercup as she approached. “How did you sleep?”

  
  


“Okay I guess, Bubbles is still asleep.”

  
  


“I figured as much. She always takes these kinds of things harder than everyone else.”

Buttercup glanced at the clock and realized it was already 11 o’clock. They were unbelievably late to school. 

Ms.Keane noticed her looking at the clock, “We can show up later to school, so that we can talk.” She glanced upstairs and frowned, “Do you mind waking Brick and Blossom up? We have questions. Leave Bubbles asleep though, we’ll fill her in later.”

  
  


Buttercup nodded and began heading back up the stairs. She walked towards Blossom’s room and opened it without knocking. She was genuinely surprised by what she saw.

Blossom was in her bed, covered in a blanket. Her arm stuck out of the blanket where her hand was intertwined with Brick’s. Brick was asleep but he had stayed on the floor, sitting upright with his head rested on the edge of her bed. Surprisingly chivalrous. Boomer was right, Brick was respectful, that earned him some points in her book. It was a sweet sight, she couldn't help herself as she took out her phone and took a picture. She decided to wake up Brick first. 

  
  


She flicked his head, “Oi, Lover boy.”

  
  


He opened his eyes groggy and confused. Brick noticed that Buttercup was the one who woke him up.

“Buttercup? What the-” 

His eyes widened as he looked around the room. His head snapped to Blossom who laid there peacefully sleeping, his cheeks tinged pink as he noticed his hand was still holding hers. So much for the super tough rowdyruff boy.

  
  


“Can you wake her up? Mom wants to talk to you guys about last night.” 

  
  


A shadow crossed his face but it immediately lifted when he looked back at Blossom. 

  
  


“Blossom?” he said as he gently stroked her cheek.

  
  


“By the way loverboy, Blossom is kind of -uh- loopy in the mornings.” He raised an eyebrow at that but turned his attention back to Blossom. 

  
  


He stroked her hair which made Blossom stir slightly, “Snowflake? C’mon it's time to get up.”

  
  


_ Snowflake? _ Oh hell yes. This was such good blackmail material. Was it christmas?

Blossom’s eyes opened and brightened when she was Brick.

“Mmm. Firefly?”

His cheeks tinged pink at the nickname and he glanced nervously at Buttercup. Buttercup gave him a large smirk that implied that they would be in for it later.

“Yeah, it's me. Your mom wants to talk to us.”

Blossom nodded and got up from the bed yawning. 

Brick frowned, “Did you sleep okay? The second time I mean.”

Blossom nodded, “Yeah, best I’ve slept in a while. Thanks to the hottie with the body.” She giggled and patted his cheek. Blossom then skipped out of the room.

Brick’s cheeks flamed and he turned to Buttercup, utterly panicked, “It’s an inside joke, I didn't - we didn't do anything but sleep.”

Buttercup laughed, “I know loverboy, just don't let her say anything like that to my mom.” 

  
  


His eyes widened and he ran out of the room after Blossom. Buttercup shook her head laughing. Breakfast was going to be interesting. She walked out into the hallway and saw Brick talking to Blossom nervously. Blossom only nodded as she openly stared at Brick’s shirtless form. Brick continued talking oblivious to Blossom’s ogling. Buttercup had been worried about Brick, but clearly it was Blossom she had to be worried about. Buttercup had to admit that Brick was surprisingly muscular, not that anyone could see it with the baggy sweater he always wore. She noticed that he had a huge marking on his back. She hadn’t noticed it yesterday in all the commotion but maybe it had to do with the strange markings on their faces. She walked past them and they followed her down the stairs to the living room. When Brick entered the room he was quickly tackled with hugs from his brothers. They talked to him rapidly and Brick smiled as he reassured them. When he was released from their grip Brick looked up and Buttercup saw panic cross his face. Ms. Keane sat by the couch patiently waiting. Brick walked over to her like a puppy with its tail in between its legs, before sitting on the couch directly across from her.

  
  


Blossom seemed to be more awake now as she calmly walked over to the couch. She paused, looking between Ms.Keane’s couch and Brick’s. Brick looked at Blossom pleadingly, and Blossom quickly sat by his side. Interesting choice. Ms. Keane’s eyes narrowed but she said nothing. Buttercup sat down by Ms.Keane and The Professors' sides and the brothers sat on the carpet by Brick.

  
  
  


Brick

  
  


Brick sat on the couch as Ms.Keane glared at him. He felt so exposed sitting here with everyone looking at him expectantly. He wished he had worn a shirt to bed, because being shirtless only made this situation ten times worse. 

  
  


He glanced at Blossom who seemed to now be fully awake as she strangled one of her hands with the other’s grip. He reached over and saved her hand from the death grip, and laced his hands in hers. She looked at him gratefully and gently squeezed his hand. 

  
  


Ms. Keane's glare intensified, “Can someone explain what is going on here?” 

  
  


Brick hesitated, he wasn’t sure how much to tell her. He turned to Blossom who gave him an almost imperceptible shake of her head. She made a silent gesture with her hand, indicating ‘a little bit’. He turned back to Ms.Keane who sat there expectantly.

  
  


“Well, we seem to be having the same dreams…” Brick paused and debated whether or not to mention the voice. He decided against it, “After the first dream, we woke up with these marks and last night was the second dream.”

  
  


Blossom nodded, “That's all we know so far but we don’t know why or what to do about this situation.” 

The professor leaned forward and had his hand under his chin thoughtfully, “Hmmm. Brick can you stand up? I would like to take a closer look at your back.” 

“His back?” Blossom turned to him, “You didn’t tell me.”

“I’m sorry Blossom, I just found out and in all this chaos there wasn’t time.” Brick let go of her hand and stood up. The Professor and Blossom both stood up, and stepped towards him. Brick awkwardly stood in the middle of the living room trying not to stiffen when he felt Blossom’s hand graze his back. 

Blossom traced a symbol on his back, “Professor… Do you recognize these symbols?”

“I do not. I don't know what language this is. If this does have to do with your dream, are you sure you didn’t see anything?”

Brick shook his head, “No, these markings are the only clue we have.”

Buttercup stared at him obviously skeptical but then turned to Blossom, “Bloss, do you have a marking like that on your back?”

Blossom blinked and her hand subconsciously reached for her back, “I’m not sure.” 

Butch piped up from his place on the carpet, “What are you waiting for? Go on and strip for us.” 

What the hell? Blossom’s jaw dropped and Ms. Keane looked murderous. Ms. Keane opened her mouth ready to scold him but Brick beat him to it. 

Brick rushed forward and pulled Butch up by the ear, “You little shit. Apologize now.” 

Boomer snickered as Butch whined. Brick’s deadly glare cut off his protests and Butch mumbled, “Sorry.”

  
  


Brick shoved Butch forward towards the bathroom, “Get your sorry ass into the bathroom, we’re  **all** going to wait there.” Boomer’s snickers died, he scrambled up and followed Butch into the restroom. Brick scowled, his brothers were idiots. Brick turned around and saw Ms. Keane looked at him with surprise. Buttercup only nodded approvingly and Blossom just stared.

  
  


Brick rubbed the back of his neck, “Er- sorry about the cursing and my brothers. Let us know when we can come out.”

  
  


“Thanks Brick,” Blossom mumbled. 

  
  


“You shouldn’t have to thank me, I’ll see you soon.”

  
  


Brick walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Butch looked terrified and Boomer looked like he was holding back laughter.

Boomer looked at Butch, “Tsk.Tsk.Tsk. You should have known Boss would be possessive.”

“How was I supposed to know that they were actually a thing, “ Butch whined. Brick grabbed Butch by the collar of his shirt and slammed him into the wall of the bathroom. Brick knew his own strength and was careful not to damage the wall. This was more of an intimidation method to teach Butch a lesson. Brick loved his brothers and would never actually hurt them, even if they were idiots.

  
  


Brick hissed, “We’re not a thing. You should have the common decency to treat people with some fucking respect.”

  
  


Butch nodded and his feet dangled uselessly as he struggled to get out of Brick’s grip. 

Boomer snickered, “I agree with the respect thing but the idea that you’re not a thing is some bullshit.”

  
  


Brick’s eyes flashed dangerously and his grip on Butch’s collar tightened. 

  
  


Butch shook his head as he tried to pry Brick’s hands away from his shirt collar, “Boom. Shut the fuck up.”

  
  


“What? I'm just being honest. No one who is just friends acts the way you did last night.”

  
  


What the hell was that supposed to mean. His.. friend… had been in trouble so he helped her. Brick snarled, his grip on Butch was still firm, “Boomer, you have no idea what youre fucking talking about.”

  
  


“Really? Last night you-”

  
  


The door to the bathroom abruptly opened and Buttercup stood in the doorway. Her eyebrows raised as she took in the scene. Brick realized he was still holding Butch in the air, and quickly dropped him. Butch crashed into a floor with a loud thump and immediately began to whine. 

Buttercup didn’t bat an eye. “We need you in the living room, we want to compare the marks.”

Brick nodded and followed her out of the bathroom. Butch and Boomer began to exit but Buttercup placed a hand out blocking his brothers from leaving the bathroom. 

“Only Brick is allowed to be there.”

His brothers began to protest but with one quick look from Brick they sighed dramatically and closed the door. 

“Why aren’t my brothers allowed to be there?”

“Because Blossom does have markings, and you’re about to see them.”

Blossom had markings on her back too? Why wouldn’t- Oh. _ Oh. _ It made sense that they wouldn't want his brothers there then but why was he allowed to go in?

“Why only me?”

Buttercup sighed, “Surprisingly I trust you to be respectful around her, and Ms. Keane only allowed it because of your display of chivalry with your brothers.”

Brick was surprised that Ms.Keane had allowed him in, but even though she had let him in there he knew that Ms. Keane would be watching him like a hawk. 

When he walked into the living room he tried his best to keep his face neutral. Ms.Keane and the professor stood somewhat far away as they frantically looked through the bookshelf. Buttercup shoved past him and walked into the kitchen where Bubbles was pouring herself some cereal. His face warmed slightly despite his efforts. It couldn't be helped. Blossom stood in the center of the living room in only a bra and those shorts. She was a vision of perfection but he tried not to look at her exposed body, it felt like a violation of her trust. Her face looked up and met his eyes when he neared. She flushed and crossed her arms in an effort to cover herself as much as possible. He hated seeing her uncomfortable. He noticed a blanket on the couch and he picked it up.

He handed it to her and Blossom took it but looked at him confused. 

“You’re obviously uncomfortable Blossom. This way you can cover up what skin doesn’t have marks.”

Her face was shocked but she held it over her chest and stomach, “Thank you Brick… I’m pretty self conscious... I know that I don’t really have the ideal body.” 

Brick was dumbfounded. How could she think that about herself? Blossom averted her gaze and a brief flash of uneasiness crossed her face. He felt rage rise up within him. 

He grabbed her chin and turned her face towards his, “Who told you that?”

  
  


“Just.. girls at school. I know that girls are supposed to be dainty and I’m fairly muscular…”

He was going to make those girls regret whatever they had said to her.

“Snowflake, that is such bullshit. They’re clearly jealous.” 

Blossom remained silent and he could see that she looked troubled as she looked down at the ground not meeting his eyes. He sighed but walked around her silently and he crouched so that he could inspect her markings closely. They were different then his, she had the same circle he had with the inscriptions around it but the center of the circle was empty. He noticed that instead of red, it was blue like the dots on her face. He wondered if they were similar to a tattoo where you couldn't feel any noticable differences in the skin or if they were etched into it.

He cleared his throat nervously, “Uh- Blossom?”

“Yeah?”

“May I- er-”, He cleared his throat but couldn't finish his question and only gestured at her back wordlessly.

“Oh! You- uh- go ahead...”

He nodded but still when he went to touch the marks he hesitated. It felt so  _ intimate _ . Which of course it wasn’t. She clearly trusted him enough, he shouldn’t make a big deal about it. His heart didn't get the memo, when he brushed his fingers across the marks, his heart beat rapidly. He could feel her stiffen as his fingers traced the markings. It was still smooth, it matched his texture wise. He removed his hands, about to stand but paused. Blossom was holding the blanket over the front part of her but didn’t completely cover her side. Blue peeked out from the blanket.

“Hold on Blossom. You have another mark on your waist.”

She lifted the blanket slightly to reveal the missing hand markings. She had hand markings but they were on either side of her waist as opposed to in the circle. Similar but different. He glanced up at her face and noticed that her hands were trying to strangle one another again. He sighed again and grabbed her hands gently. She looked down at him questioningly, and he only rubbed her hands feeling the marks her fingernails had left in her skin. 

“Blossom. Whatever they said isn’t true…” Brick hesitated to continue but figured fuck it. “...and for the record, you’re the most beautiful girl I know.”

He let go of her hands and rose up before giving her a chance to respond. Hopefully she didn’t take it as a creepy attempt to make a move on her. Professor Utonium looked up from his book searching and nudged Ms.Keane. They left a pile of books behind as they walked over to Brick and Blossom.

Ms. Keane looked at him suspiciously but her face turned to confusion when her eyes left Brick’s face and fell on Blossom. Brick turned to look at Blossom and was surprised to see that Blossom was staring at him, her face was a mixture of confusion, shock and something else Brick couldn’t place.

Ms. Keane placed a hand on Blossom’s shoulder, “What’s wrong?” Blossom ripped her gaze away from him and turned to Ms. Keane.

“Oh, nothing”

The Professor stepped forward, “Hmmm. Can you both face that wall, so that I can compare the marks more easily.”

Both teens nodded and spun towards the wall.

“Maybe we can copy down the marks on a piece of paper.” 

Both Blossom and Brick turned to see Buttercup who was looking at them thoughtfully.

The Professor nodded, “Good idea Buttercup. This will take a moment.”

As Brick stood there, his mind wandered back to the dream. It had been absolutely awful but at least they had gotten a new source of information. Him. That bastard, he had revived the brothers and at one point was co-parenting with Mojo Jojo until he had disappeared without a trace. He wasn’t quite sure what had happened to Mojo Mojo, whether it was too many blows to the head as a result of his failed attempts to defeat the powerpuff girls but he had snapped. Mojo Jojo had become an abusive father, and the fact that the boys had turned away from their evil nature enraged the stupid monkey further. Wherever Him was, Brick was going to find Him and make Him wish he was back in the hell he came from. 

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a beaming professor, “Alright! All done.”

Blossom sped over to the couch and pulled her t-shirt on. 

Ms. Keane pointed to the bathroom,” Buttercup, you can bring the boys out now, tell them to go home and get ready for school and bring Brick back some clothes.”

Brick paused at that. Why wouldn’t he be going with his brothers and getting his clothes himself? He glanced at Ms. Keane who was looking at him with a surprisingly sinister smile.

“Brick and I have much to discuss.”

Brick blanched and Blossom froze. Buttercup only walked off snickering. Discuss? What more was there to discuss? He had never realized how intimidating Ms.Keane was until right now. Ms.Keane walked over to the dining room table and gestured for him to sit. Brick walked over and did everything in his power not to stumble over his feet nervously.

Blossom started and began to walk over but froze when Ms.Keane shook her head. Blossom looked at him with wide eyes but stayed where she was obediently. Traitor.

“So… Ms.Keane. What did you want to discuss?” 

Brick shifted in his seat and glanced at his brothers who walked through the living room towards the exit. Both brothers looked at him but only snickered at his situation as they opened the door and sped off in two streaks of light. Bastards. Oh, they were going to get it later. Buttercup walked over to Blossom and pulled her to her feet. With one last pitiful look at him, Blossom followed Buttercup up the stairs.

  
  


“Brick. Brick. Brick...”

  
  
  


Blossom

  
  


Blossom grabbed the first shirt she saw and tugged on a pair of jeans from her drawer. She tried to be as quick as possible. The private conversation between Ms.Keane and Brick did not bode well. Despite the fact that Brick and Blossom were only friends, Ms.Keane most likely saw a ruggedly handsome and charming boy who was surprisingly muscular and- Blossom shook her head at that thinking. What? Clearly she was tired, she had only really rested when… her cheeks flushed remembering Brick’s embrace. 

Blossom walked over to the bathroom and saw Buttercup brushing her teeth. Blossom stood behind her and tied her orange hair into a messy ponytail. When Buttercup finished she moved aside allowing Blossom to brush her teeth. As Blossom brushed she noticed Buttercup staring at her skeptically. What was she looking at? Blossom arched her eyebrow as if to ask what she was thinking.

“Loverboy down there is probably getting the talk of his life.”

Her eyes widened and she quickly rinsed her mouth. Blossom tried to rush past her but Buttercup blocked her path.

“Leader Girl… tell me honestly. Is there something going on between you two?”

Blossom shook her head rapidly and forcefully shoved past Buttercup. How could she even ask that? Whatever. She needed to get to Brick before Ms. Keane embarrassed her even more. She sped down the stairs and saw that Boomer and Butch had returened with Brick’s clothes in hand. Brick took the clothes and walked towards the restroom, his eyes flickered over to her and he smiled. He walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. At this point it was 12:13. Oh god. They were so late, she was supposed to meet with Mike about the carnival student council was putting on. She groaned inwardly, he was never going to let that go.

Bubbles skipped down the stairs, ready for school. The group of teens stood in the living room with their backpacks ready to head out. Ms.Keane stood by the door and gestured for Blossom to come over.

“What’s wrong Mom?”

“I don't know what is going on but what I do know is that you’re grounded this weekend.”

“What why?”

“I know you’re hiding something and until I know what it is, you’re grounded.”

Blossom grumbled and angrily walked back over to her siblings. It wasn’t like she could tell her mom anyway. The bathroom door opened and Brick quickly walked out, his hoodie was surprisingly off and he wore a plain black t-shirt with jeans and vans. He had his signature red cap with his hair tied into a messy low ponytail. He picked up his backpack from the spot on the floor where his brothers left it and slung it over his shoulder. Ms. Keane walked them all out and unlocked her van door. It was a large van with enough room for them all to fit without breaking any laws. 

  
  


“Shotgun!” Buttercup shoved past all of them and jumped into the front seat. 

  
  


Blossom rolled her eyes but they all piled into the car with no complaints. Bubbles sat in the center with Boomer and Butch sitting on either side. Blossom and Brick sat next to each other in the last row much to her mom’s dismay. The car was full of chatter as Bubbles talked excitedly about a new project she had for school. Boomer was enthralled by Bubble’s excitement, Boomer had been dating Bubbles for a year now. Initially, the two danced around their feelings, everyone had known that they had liked each other, except them. Can you imagine being that oblivious? Butch was loudly arguing with Buttercup even though they were on opposite sides of the car, and Ms. Kenae was happily driving while listening to the radio. 

Blossom glanced at Brick beside her, His red eyes seemed lost in thought and his fingers danced along the arm rest to a beat of a song she didn’t recognize. He hummed under his breath, unaware that she was watching him. 

She leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, “What song are you humming?”

“Hmm? I have no idea but it's driving me nuts.”

She giggled and he returned with a rare genuine smile. Brick’s phone buzzed, he glanced at it and frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s Mike, he’s asking if I’m going to show up today, I allegedly ‘left him alone to die in 2nd period for two days’. He is  _ the _ most dramatic person I know.”

“I know what you mean. I'm already bracing myself for the lecture I'm going to get for missing a student council meeting.” 

“Hopefully, he’ll be too busy lecturing you to scold me”

“Brick! You would betray me like that?!?”

Brick mockingly tapped his chin as if in thought before turning to her with a smirk, “mmm, yup.”

He burst into laughter at her pout but before she could say anything else, they pulled into the parking lot of the school. They all climbed out of the car and shuffled into the school. Ms.Keane left them in the main office as she went to her personal office. They all signed in with Ms. Fitzgerald who was in charge of the attendance office. 

They all started to walk in different directions to their respective classes when Ms. Fitzgerald called out to them.

“Hey! The bell is going to ring in two minutes. You might as well head out to the cafeteria for lunch or whatever it is you guys do.”

Oh. Clearly they were more late than she thought. So lunch it is. Should she head with her sisters to get lunch or go with - what was she thinking? Blossom doubted Brick wanted to spend so much time with her. He already had to come to her house in the middle of the night. Blossom realized she hadn’t even asked the other day to sit with Brick and Mike. Oh no. He probably thought she was some creepy stalker or-

“Blossom?”

Brick stood directly in front of her and she looked up at him, she may have been the tallest of the girls but Brick towered over her. 

“Yes?”

“I- uh- was wondering if you wanted to sit with me- I mean- Mike and I for lunch?” He shifted before continuing, “I could use my human shield to protect me from Mike… that is if you wan-”

“Yes!” 

Blossom was equally surprised as Brick at her outburst. She cringed, why did she sound so eager? Luckily Brick only smiled and didn’t comment on her obvious excitement.

“Alright then,” Brick gestured ahead of them in the direction of the cafeteria, “Our torture awaits.”

Blossom and Brick walked side by side toward the cafeteria and Blossom pretended not to notice Bubbles’ giggling or the pointed looks Buttercup was giving her.

  
  
  


After they bought their school lunch, the bell rang signaling that she and Brick had gotten their lunch just in time to avoid the influx of starving teenagers. They sat at a bench towards the edge of the cafeteria, she could see that the benches around them were already starting to fill up with students. Brick sat beside her, no doubt leaving the bench across from them empty for mike. 

Their bench was close to a window that let in a slight breeze. Unconsciously she rubbed her arms, she had forgotten her sweater in the commotion this morning. Clearly that hadn’t been a good idea considering what had occurred last night. It had seemed so sunny this morning though…

A red sweater was shoved into her face. Blossom blinked but looked at Brick questioningly. 

“Blossom, you’re clearly cold, just take the sweater.”

“But you-”

“Trust me I don’t need it today.”

She huffed but accepted the hoodie and pulled it over her head. It was surprisingly warm, and it had a hint of coffee mixed with a sort of woody smell. It smelled distinctly like Brick she realized, she had gotten pretty close to him last night and this sweater matched that scent to a tee. The scent made her feel cozy and warm.

She glanced up at Brick and she saw that his red eyes were wide as he stared at her. He looked slightly flushed, hopefully that heat wasn’t coming back. 

He gulped and his lips parted, “uh-Is it- “

**SLAM.**

A lunch tray was set down onto the table with a huff. Blossom and Brick turned to see Mike who was glaring at both of them angrily. He sat down across from both of them and irritably tapped his fingers on the table.

Mike arched his eyebrow, “Well?”

“Well what?”

“Don’t give me that ‘well what?’  _ bricky. _ ” 

“Stop call-”

“Where the hell were you two?!?”

Blossom and Brick remained silent, unsure of what to say. That made Mike even more suspicious. Blossom knew that they couldn't explain the situation to Mike. She searched for an excuse but came up empty. Oh no. Mike was going to kill them.

Mike angrily continued, “Look. If you two ditched me so that you could make out or whatever, tell me now and I promise I won’t be mad.”

Blossom’s jaw dropped and Brick balked at Mike. 

**SLAM. SLAM. SLAM.**

Thank goodness. She was saved by- oh no. Please no.

Robin gave Mike a quick kiss on the cheek before Buttercup, Bubbles, and Robin sat down with innocent smiles on their faces. She knew those smiles were anything but innocent. She racked her brain trying to get out of this situation. She stiffened and Brick discreetly tapped her thigh. Her eyes darted toward him, and he mouthed, _ ’you okay?’ _

Blossom hesitated to answer, maybe this wouldn't be too bad.

Robin held out a sweater and waved it, “Y’know Blossy… I heard you forgot your sweater and was going to offer you this one but it looks like you already covered it.”

Robin rested her chin on her hand and asked innocently, “Whose sweater is that anyway?”

Mike and her sisters did a double take as they noticed the sweater that was obviously not hers. Their eyes widened when they realized exactly who this sweater belonged to. oh no. This was going to be misconstrued wasn't it? Then she was going to have to give the sweater back, and she was already cozy and it smelled so nice.

Mike appeared amused, “Wait just a minute, Mr.Jojo. What did you tell me when I was freez-”

Brick kicked Mike under the table and gave him a dirty look, Mike only snickered.

“Oi Loverboy, you don’t want to treat the soon to be birthday boy like that do you?”

MIke’s expression turned to confusion, “Buttercup, what are you talking about? My birthday was three months ago.” 

WHAT? She was dead. Blossom was going to die. Brick was wrong, it wasn’t a good excuse. It had backfired royally. Speaking of… why didn’t Brick remember when Mike’s birthday was? She turned to Brick who looked like a deer caught in headlights.

A shit-eating grin appeared on Buttercup’s face, “Oh really?” She turned to them, “Then what the hell were you two doing at the diner?”

“I thought you were working on a project... Jojo?”

Bubbles and Robin burst into laughter but Mike and Buttercup looked at them expectantly.

Uhhhh. What were they supposed to do? They were obviously caught in a lie, she met Brick’s eyes and he looked equally panicked. He wrote on her thigh with his index finger,  _ run? _ She gave him a curt nod. Without a word he snatched up both their backpacks, grabbed her hand and together they bolted out of the cafeteria. Blossom could hear the chorus of laughter from the table they left behind as they ran. People gave them strange looks as they passed, no doubt because they were running like lunatics through the hallway.

They stopped in front of the library, and Brick was looking around to check they weren't followed by the gaggle of hyenas she called her sisters and friends. Only a couple people were in the hallway and there was a small group of three that were at the opposite end of the hallway. He dropped their backpacks on the floor and they both rested with their backs against the wall. She realized that Brick was still holding her hand but she made no protest, his calloused hands were so warm. She couldn’t believe they had just done that. She was in for it next period. A small giggle escaped her at the ludicrousy of what they did. Brick looked at her surprised but he began to laugh too. Both erupted into a paroxysm of laughter that left them breathless. Slightly panting from the laughter, Blossom rested her head on his arm, he stiffened briefly but immediately relaxed and gently rested his head on top of hers. They sat in a comfortable silence for a while. Brick lifted his head and looked at her. 

Brick squeezed her hand and gave her an award winning smile, “Clearly we have to plan our stories better.”

Blossom remained where she was but replied, “You’re telling me? How could you not remember your best friend’s birthday already passed?”

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, ”I'm pretty bad with stuff like that.”

**RIng.Ring.**

The bell signaling lunch was over rang but neither of them moved.

Blossom realized that she shared her math class with her sisters and groaned, “They’re going to kill me…”

Blossom let go of his hand and stood up. She reached for her bag but Brick quickly grabbed her hand before she reached it. Brick chewed his lip and she looked at him questioningly.

“Let me walk you to class. That is if you want.”

Blossom’s eyes widened but she nodded and Brick beamed. He picked up both bags, and they walked to class together. He hadn’t let go of her hand she noticed but she wasn’t about to complain. What? Her hands were cold! They were friends!

  
  


They arrived at her class and she could see that her sisters were already in the classroom and that they could see Blossom and Brick in the hallway. Her teacher stood outside the classroom, greeting the students as they entered. Brick handed Blossom her bag and she reluctantly let go of his hand. She stood in front of the classroom and Brick didn’t move but only shifted his feet slightly.

“Thanks Brick. What class do you have right now?

“I have Mr. Craymore, we’re supposed to be doing this lab out in the hallway later on in the period.”

“Ah, you have physics with Robin?”

“Yeah. Listen Blossom we need to-”

“Mr.Jojo and Miss. Utonium. Do you plan on standing there all day or are you going to get to class?” Her teacher looked at her with an eyebrow raised. 

“Sorry Mr. Levenstine…” They both said in unison. 

She turned to enter the class but Brick placed his hand on her arm to stop her and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

His hot breath sent tingles down her spine, “Meet me in the library afterschool.”

She nodded and with that he turned and walked down the hallway to his own class. She entered the classroom silently avoiding Mr. Levenstine’s eyes. She took her seat and tensed as she saw Buttercup and Bubbles looking at her. They stayed silent as Mr.Levenstein droned about a test they had taken last week but she knew that her sisters were waiting for the perfect time to pounce.

  
  


Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she discreetly checked it. Only her sister’s noticed that she pulled her phone out and their eyes narrowed.

  
  


**Firefly: I have a potential excuse for you. You want to surprise your father with a gift and want my coveted mechanical expertise ;) It doesn’t necessarily have to be for his birthday but a thank you gift for something?**

Blossom’s shoulders sagged in relief, he really was a genius. She couldn’t tell him that of course, it would go straight to his head. She glanced around quickly and her teacher was still distracted. A faint smile appeared on Blossom’s face as she quickly texted back.

**Snowflake: Thank you! His birthday actually is next month so this works perfectly! Don’t flatter yourself too much. Honestly you’re the only person I know who is remotely interested in mechanics and engineering.**

**Firefly: Ah! You wound me! I’ll just have to prove it to you with my amazing skills and wicked charms.**

**Snowflake: Uh huh. We’ll see about that.**

**Firefly: :’(**

**Snowflake: Don't be such a drama queen**

**Firefly: Me? Never.**

**Firefly: Also… Why aren’t you paying attention in class Miss Goody two shoes?**

**Snowflake: I could ask you the same question?**

**Snowflake: Too distracted by my charming personality?**

**Firefly: You got me there.**

**Firefly: Unfortunately I am not immune to your beguiling ways.**

**Snowflake: I can't help that you’re utterly enamored by my wit and charm**

  
  


Blossom giggled and realized she was still in class and looked around. Both sisters looked at her curiously and tried to peek at her phone, Blossom hid it in her pocket and Blossom knew she was safe as long as-

“Alright class. I’m going to pass your tests back now so feel free to talk amongst yourselves.”

Oh no. Her sister’s grins were predatory. She shifted in her seat and braced herself.

  
  


Bubbles leaned over, “So what were you actually doing at the diner?”

“The truth is… Brick and I are planning to make The Professor a special gift for his birthday and I was worried you guys would be upset because we all usually pitch in.”

“Awww Blossy… You know that we don't care about that. We’re not in kindergarten anymore.”

Blossom was inwardly relieved, the excuse seemed to work on Bubbles but Buttercup still appeared skeptical.

“Huh. So Bloss… where did ya run off to during lunch?”

“I had to go to the library.”

“The library? You sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. I think I know where I went.”

“Oh really? Hey Mitch!”

Mitch sat behind her and responded in his gravelly voice, “What?”

“You hang out by the library at lunch sometimes right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Did you see a certain pink powerpuff girl in the library by any chance?”

Oh no. How did Blossom keep getting herself into these situations. She shrunk into Brick’s sweater and tried to stay calm as she breathed in his familiar scent.

Mitch smirked and looked at her knowingly, she silently begged him to stay quiet with her eyes. She should have known better than to even try, Mitch Mitcheslon had been Buttercup’s best friend for years. 

“Not  _ in  _ the library.”

Buttercup arched her eyebrow, “oh?”

“She sat outside the library canoodling with her beau.”

Bubbles began to giggle hysterically and Buttercup snickered, “I thought you had to go into the library?”

“I wasn’t canoodling! He’s lying! Mitch just wants to mess with me.” 

“I am not a liar Blossom Utonium! I have proof! I was going to blackmail you with it but I’ll settle for this.”

Oh no. Proof? This class period was the worst. She checked her phone and saw that there was still 20 minutes left. This day was so stressful. A message from Mitch appeared on her phone.

  
  


**From Mitch to Robin, Bubbles, Buttercup, Blossom, Brick**

**Attachment: 2 images**

Blossom blanched when she saw the pictures. The first depicted Blossom resting her head on Brick’s shoulder as they sat together outside the library. His head was resting on top of hers and both had their eyes closed contentedly. The picture made the scene look very…. _ intimate. _

The second showed her giggling in the picture as she was nearly nose to nose with Brick. Brick was looking down at her and had a genuine smile on his face, both of them had pink cheeks. The fact that their hands were obviously intertwined in both pictures didn't help matters. Neither did the fact that she was wearing his sweater.

  
  


The picture was taken out of context! She was going to strangle Mitch with her bare hands. Bubbles gasped beside her and Buttercup looked speechless. 

“Mitch! You little weasel I’m gonna-”

“Ahem- Miss Utonium.”

Blossom paused and looked up at Mr. Levenstine nervously, “Yes?”

“Please do not threaten other students. Here is your test. You did very well, 100%. Hopefully you don't get distracted with Mr. Jojo as your new boyfriend.”

“He’s not my- “

“Ah but your sweater says otherwise… Ms.Keane will not be pleased.”

“What? No I-”

Mr. Levenstine walked off without another word and left a sputtering Blossom in his place. 

Who had Mitch sent these pictures to besides her sisters? Robin? That wasn’t going to go over well, she could already hear the high pitched screams. He also sent it to Brick? Oh no. what was she going to do? What was she supposed to say? He obviously doesn't think of her like that and now he was going to be so uncomfortable. With one look at her face in that picture Brick would know that maybe she enjoyed spending time with him a little too much. This can’t be happening.

  
  


“Wow.” Buttercup appeared to have gotten her voice back. Blossom scowled at her.

“Mitch, you sent it to Brick too? Nice one.”

“I try.”

Bubbles began to hyperventilate beside her. Oh no, she was going to-

**SQUUUUUUUEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLL**

Glass from the classroom windows shattered with her high pitched scream. Shard of glass littered the table and she was sure her hair must have had some also.

  
  


“Bubbles!” Buttercup and Blossom scolded.

“Oopsie.”

  
  


All the students in Mr. Levenstine’s class shuffled out into the hallway. They wouldn’t be allowed to go back in until the janitor could clean the glass up. Technically it was a safety hazard so they had to stay in the hallway. 

Surprisingly students from another class were in the hallway also. Oh no. It was Mr.Craymore’s class. Brick and Robin were both in this class. Oh, just kill her now. She spotted them working together on this weird metal thing, Robin was scowling and Brick was just glaring at her as he attempted to fix whatever mistake she had made. 

Robin glanced up and saw the commotion, she caught Blossom’s eye and waved enthusiastically. Huh. Robin didn't seem to be overreacting at all. Maybe she was going to be fine after all. Robin said something to him and Brick turned in her direction angrily. When he saw her face the scowl disappeared and he smiled and waved. She gave him a little wave back. He didn’t seem to be reacting to the pictures either. Maybe she was overcomplicating things. It was just a picture. It's not like the pictures revealed the very hidden thoughts, emotions, and urges she felt for the redhead since they’ve known each other. Right? Or maybe he did know and was going to ignore it because he obviously felt nothing for her. She wasn’t sure why those thoughts didn’t make her feel any better.

Mr. Craymore walked over to Mr. Levenstine. They talked briefly and once they finished Mr.Levenstein made an announcement.

“Seeing as our current math instruction time was cut short, I would like for you guys to take this opportunity and observe the science class’s current lab.”

They all nodded and Blossom turned in Brick’s direction, he waved her over. She glanced at her sisters and Mitch who were looking at her smugly, but she walked over to him regardless.

Blossom sat next to Brick, who was fiddling with a variety of metal parts, batteries and a lightbulb. She discreetly inhaled that alluring aroma of coffee and what she now recognized as cedar around him. She hoped he didn’t notice, not that there was anything to notice. What? He smelled nice! 

\----

Brick

  
  


Blossom sat close to him despite the fact that she could have sat by Robin. Brick tried not to feel excited at the prospect that she actually wanted to sit close to him. He doubted that was true, she was just naturally curious and wanted to see what he was working on. Brick couldn’t help but admit that she looked really cute in his hoodie, it was oversized on her, and the sleeves hid her hands unless she rolled them back. She leaned closer to him so that she could see what he was doing and he caught a whiff of her hair. She smelled fruity? Was it peaches? Brick couldn’t help but hope that when she gave his sweater back that the smell would linger.

Her voice broke him out of his thoughts, “What is it?”

“Oh it's just a simple circuit.”

Robin scoffed, “Simple my ass.”

“You would know how to do it if you weren’t texting Mike all period.” Brick gave Robin a pointed look.

Robin bristled, “You were texting too!”

“Well, I'm not an idiot so…”

“You- ugh. Who were you texting anyway? You don’t even have any friends.”

Brick eyes darted to Blossom subconsciously, and Robin’s eyes widened.

She tittered and smugly continued, “Oh I see. Well I’m sorry Blossom if Lil’ Bricky here couldn’t respond, we had to leave our phones in class.”

Brick scowled. If Robin hadn’t been Mike’s long time girlfriend, he most likely would have strangled her already. He turned to Blossom who looked relieved? 

She turned towards him with wide eyes, “You haven't checked your phone?”

“Uh no. Did you text me? Do you want me to go get-”

“NO!”

Brick blinked. 

Robin looked at Blossom utterly perplexed, “Bloss, you okay?”

Blossom nodded vigorously. Okay… Something was going on here. Blossom was obviously nervous as she clenched her hands tightly. It was one of her nervous tics, and was a clear indicator that something was wrong. Brick sighed and swiftly separated her hands and patted them reassuringly. He then turned back to fixing the circuit that Robin had messed up. Robin looked at him with a bemused expression. He ignored her look and completed the circuit. He set it down and smirked at Robin. She huffed angrily, but paused as she saw Blossom’s hands. Her hands had returned to their former position. 

Brick noticed there was something reflecting the hallway lights in her hair. Wordlessly, he removed it. A shard of glass?

Robin appeared concerned, “Bloss. Why are you guys out here anyway?”

Blossom’s grip on her hands tightened and he frowned. Was that the reason she was so anxious? For the second time he separated her hands but this time he held onto one of them tightly and looked at her questioningly. Subconsciously their fingers laced together, Brick ignored the butterflies in his stomach.

“Um. Bubbles got a little too excited again.”

“About?

“Well…”

Blossom stiffened as she heard footsteps approach, he felt her grip on his hand tighten. He looked up and saw that her sisters and Mitch had shown up. They all looked extremely happy about something.

“So Loverboy…what did ya think?”

Brick’s scowl at the nickname turned into bewilderment, “Think of what?”

“You haven’t checked your phone have you?”

“No, why should I-”

Brick faltered as he looked at Blossom whose grip on his hand had increased. She was looking down at the ground.

Robin looked just as confused, “What is going on?”

“Lemme guess… you haven’t checked your phone either,” Buttercup said wryly. 

Bubbles clapped her hands excitedly and Mitch followed her lead. Blossom looked nauseous, which made Brick more concerned. He briefly let go of her hand, which made her look at him sharply. He traced the letters, ‘ _ U OK’ _ , and then a question mark on the back of her hand. 

Bubbles squealed, but not loud enough to break the glass in the circuit. “You should totally go get your phone like right now, and get Brick’s too!”

  
  
  


“Okay, Okay, we’re done anyway. I’ll be back.” Robin scooped up the finished circuit and walked back to the classroom to retrieve their phones. As she stepped into the classroom, the bell rang. They could officially leave school and this day was finally over, well sort of. He wanted to do some research to see if they could find that cave in real life. As of right now though he was concerned about something else.

Blossom traced ‘ _ X LOOK AT PHONE’ _ on his palm. ‘X Look at phone’? Don’t look at his phone?

Now he was really confused. 

  
  


He traced ‘ _ Y? _ ’ but she only shook her head and looked at him pleadingly. Her pink eyes were filled with desperation, and his teeth clenched. While everyone else was here, he wouldn’t say anything but they would talk about this later. 

Robin returned triumphantly with two phones, she promptly handed Brick his own. Blossom’s sisters looked on in excitement waiting for Brick to see the message.

All their jaws dropped when he wordlessly handed Blossom the phone. Blossom looked at him with wide eyes and he quickly traced the numbers, ‘25677’. She typed in his passcode and with a few taps deleted whatever message it was. She passed it back to him and looked at him, her pink eyes were shining and Brick knew that he would do whatever she wanted for her to look at him like that again.

Buttercup looked utterly gobsmacked, “What the hell- you-you-”

Brick only shrugged and he stood up from his seat on the floor. He held out his hand, Blossom accepted it and he pulled her up.

Robin stopped looking at him and instead looked down at her phone, her eyes expanded to the size of dinner plates, “HOLY SHIT. oh my GOD. I freaking knew it.” She looked up at him and then down at her phone again and then back at him.

Brick had to admit that reaction made him very curious, but with one look at Blossom who was biting her lip, he knew that he wouldn’t be finding out what it was. Brick squeezed her hand reassuringly, and scooped up her backpack. He led her to the direction of his classroom so he could get his backpack.

Buttercup screamed at him as they walked away, “YOU’RE NOT EVEN GOING TO CHECK?”

“Nope!”

Brick snickered at Buttercup's growls and saw that Blossom was smiling at him. His heart skipped a beat, and he couldn’t help the grin that crept onto his face. 

  
  


They sat in the library reading various books about the cave systems of Townsville. Brick sat beside her on one of the couches. Brick glanced at Blossom who was completely engrossed in the book. She twirled one of his hoodie strings around her finger absentmindedly. Twirl. Untwirl. Twirl. Untwirl. Her eyebrows were knit together in concentration adorably. Yeah he could say adorably. It didn't mean anything. Brick wasn’t blind. She pursed her lips slightly. Brick tried to keep his thoughts as friendly as possible but he couldn't help but admire the softness of her lips. He wanted nothing more than to - he cleared his throat- nope. nope. nope. 

He forced himself to stare at his book. 

_ ‘Larger  _ [ _ cave systems _ ](https://www.britannica.com/science/cave-system) _ often have complex patterns of superimposed passages…’ _

His finger would brush across her lips... 

_ ‘…. that represent a long history of cave development. ‘ _

He would lift her chin and pull her in closer.

_ The oldest passages, usually but not necessarily those at …’ _

He would feel her cool breath on his lips before..

‘ _ the highest elevations, may have formed before the glaciations…’ _

Their lips would become tantalisingly close until they finally-

“Brick?”

Brick jumped and nearly fell off of the couch. What the hell? He looked up at Blossom who was stifling her giggles. His heart nearly burst out his chest. What was going on?

“Sorry Brick. I didn’t realize that you were so engrossed in your reading.”

“Yeah… reading…” Brick shook his head and tried to clear any remaining confusion, “Did you find something?”

“Yeah! In the dream there were stalagmites and stalactites in that cave.”

He nodded and gestured for her to continue.

“Those only form in limestone caves and lucky for us, there is only one limestone cave system in townsville.” 

She was a genius. Blossom tapped a map of cave systems around Townsville and tapped said cave system. She looked at him with satisfaction and a gleam of excitement in her eye, that made her that much more attractive to-. Nope. Nope. Brick leaned over to get a closer look, and tried his best to ignore the enticing aroma of peaches when he did. Hmm. The cave was a little out of the way, but they could probably try to find it on saturday.

“Alright. Are you free saturday?”

“Er- Ms.Keane…sort of grounded me.”

“That is a serious problem…”

“Buuut… she is going to be at a math conference with the professor this weekend so…”

He leaned in closer until their noses were practically touching each other, “Are you suggesting that you’re going to sneak out? My. My. My… Miss Utonium…. Looks like i'm a bad influence on you after all.”

She flicked his nose and stood up taking the map and books with her. He rubbed his nose but followed her as she walked over to check out her books. They were silent until they walked out of the library and were sure they were out of earshot of nosy librarians.

Brick began to walk her home, her house was close only a few blocks away. They decided to walk, he hoped it was because she didn’t want this to end either. 

“So you’re bad now huh?”

She leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear, “Maybe… I’ve always been this bad… Unlike you I’ve just never been caught…” Blossom gave him a devilish smirk that made his heart nearly burst out of his chest.

“Okay, Miss everything nice turned evil genius… How are you going to convince your sisters to help you?”

She smiled and began to explain her elaborate scheme, he couldn't help but be captivated by the dramatic way she explained her ‘evil plot’. Her eyes were lit up and her hands waved animatedly as she explained.

By the time she finished, they had arrived at her doorstep. He paused at the front door waiting for her to go in before he left. He wasn’t expecting her to pause too.

“Um Brick I-” 

She hugged him unexpectedly. His eyes widened but before his hands could move, she had already released him. Blossom gripped her own hands tightly. She was nervous?

“Thank you -” She paused briefly when his hands moved to separate hers almost unthinkingly. 

He held onto her hands as she continued, “About the phone thing… It really wasn’t that big of a deal but I- I was worried that you would feel embarrassed over what people would think…or not want to talk to me anymore.”

Brick rubbed her hands soothingly and murmured, “What was it?” 

“It was- um- pictures of us at lunch… Mitch saw and kind of assumed...”

At lunch? Oh! They must have- but wait. Why would he be embarrassed? Blossom was beautiful and he would be lucky if people thought he could be with a girl like her.

“Ah. But Blossom? Why would I be embarrassed? It’s the other way around don't you think?”

“What?”

“C’mon Blossom. You’re smart, funny, and beautiful. I’m surprised they thought that I could get someone like you.” Brick chuckled good humoredly but his heart panged painfully when he said it.

Blossom looked confused as she stared at him, “But Brick you’re-”

“Blossom. Relax. Accept the compliment. There’s no need for false flattery.” 

Before Brick lost his nerve he leaned over and gave her a light peck on the cheek. His lips lightly grazed her soft skin before he murmured, “I’ll see you tomorrow Blossom.”

Blossom’s whole face turned red and she froze in place.

Oh god. Maybe he wasn’t supposed to do that. What kind of ‘friend’ was he? Fucking ulterior motives… he wanted to kick himself. She was going to hate him and then she was going to tell Ms.Keane. Brick flinched as he remembered the thinly veiled threats towards him and his manhood if he corrupted Blossom. Brick wasn’t scared of many things, but as of right now Blossom’s mother was on his list. 

“Um-you-”

That was his cue to leave. As he was about to turn the door opened revealing Bubbles.

“Awww… you came to drop Blossy off? That is sooo cute!”

Blossom just stood there quietly. Yup. He was a dead man.

“I’m just gonna head out now… I’ll see you-”

“Wait! The Professor wanted to talk to you anyway! Come on in!”

Brick froze but Bubbles didn’t wait for a response as she yanked Brick and Blossom into the house.

Bubbles skipped happily to The Professor's lab and cheerily called out his name.

Blossom and Brick stood there quietly, when a sudden ding from his phone broke the silence.

**From Robin to Brick**

**Robin: I saw that.**

Brick froze but decided to play dumb.

**Brick: Saw what?**

**Robin: Very smooth Mr.Jojo…**

**Robin: I think that you forget that I’m their neighbor and I have a wonderful vantage point from my window to the doorstep.**

**Brick: It was friendly!**

**Robin: Brick… don’t lie to me. Judging from your interactions, I can tell that you clearly have a thing for our lil’ Blossom.**

Brick angrily shoved his phone back into his pocket. He couldn’t deal with this right now. Have a thing? Nope. Blossom looked at him questioningly, she seems to have recovered from what he had assumed was sheer rage.

“Was that your brother?”

“Worse. It was Robin.”

“Robin?”

Multiple dings came from his phone, clearly she did not like being ignored. He turned his ringer off.

“She’s a pain in my ass but y’know, she's my best friend’s girlfriend.”

“Brick!” Blossom chastised but he could tell that she wasn’t really angry. 

Before he could make a snarky remark, The Professor emerged from his lab. He paused briefly when he saw Blossom’s sweater but ignored it as he stretched out his hand towards Brick.

Brick shook it firmly, “You wanted to talk to me?”

“Yes. I’ve been researching your marks but have yet to find anything. If i’m being perfectly honest the events of last night are troubling me.”

Brick nodded. When he had gotten there, Blossom had been so cold, he was afraid she was going to shatter. He recalled how fragile her small frame felt in his arms, and Brick was thankful that he had gotten there just in time. 

“As a precaution I wanted to ask you for a favor. I understand if you want to refuse...but all things considered it would put me at ease.”

“What is it, Sir?”

“If it’s all right with your legal guardian, I wanted to know if you can spend the night until friday?”

Brick froze and Blossom stiffened beside him. This was a test right? It had to be. Ms. Keane was probably lurking in the shadows waiting for him to naively say yes, before she castrated him. Brick’s eyes darted around the room.

As if reading his thoughts The Professor reassured him, “Ms.Keane is aware of what I’m asking, and just so you know I vouched for you so you should be safe.”

Brick still felt slightly uneasy. Did he trust his brother’s enough to leave them at home for a couple days? He knew Mojo Jojo wouldn’t be back until next week, his recent endeavour was taking longer then expected. They would be safe from their ‘creator’ but would they be safe from their own stupidity?

He glanced at Blossom who was playing with the strings of the hoodie nervously. What if he didn’t stay and didn’t get there in time? His stomach churned at the thought.

“Okay. I’ll -uh- need to get some of my stuff.”

“Understood, see you soon Mr. Jojo.”

\---

Brick sat at the dining room table and practically chugged his black coffee. Blossom yawned as she reached for the creamer. Buttercup and Bubbles munched away happily, but Brick didn’t have much of an appetite.

Last night was a disaster. They had both dreamed of the same cave they were in last time. They had tried to search for more clues but the same wind had woken them up. They had woken up burning and freezing like the night before. Clearly the ‘Dark One’ was running out of ideas. 

Brick had worn a shirt to bed as a precaution, but he had burned through it when he woke up, which did not earn him points in Ms.Keane’s favor. Neither did the scorch mark on the couch. It had taken less time for him to warm Blossom back up but they were still exhausted. They only managed to fall back asleep at 2 in the morning with him on the floor. His back was killing him, twice in a row sleeping upright was not a good thing. 

He went through the morning in a haze, math and his swim class flew by. He hadn’t even had time to defend himself against Boomer and Butch’s remarks about his current night situation. As he sat in Mrs. Lebonsky’s history lesson it had taken all of his effort not to fall asleep. Clearly Blossom had struggled as much as he had because he had to tap her on the shoulder to wake her up every now and then. 

By the time they got to lunch Brick and Blossom were practically slumped over onto the table with exhaustion.

He laid his head on his arms using them as pillows.

Mike only stared at both of them before he whistled softly, “Jeez. you guys look like crap.”

He could tell Blossom was tired because her only response was to lean her head on his arm and mumble, “I wanna nap.”

“Then nap.” His voice was muffled by his sweater.

“People are going to see.” Blossom whined miserably. 

Brick took his hat off and shoved it on her head, he tilted it so that no one could see her face.

“There. Now let me sleep.”

She mumbled something before she made herself more comfortable on his arm. Her breathing began to become regular and he could tell that she was asleep. He could feel her heartbeat pulse through his body, the steady rhythm lulled him to sleep.

\---------

~Robin~

Robin plopped down besides Mike, giving him a quick peck on the lips before taking in the scene in front of her. Friendly my ass.

Brick had his head rested on the crook of his left arm while Blossom’s hands were wrapped around his right arm as she used him as a pillow. Brick’s hat was on her head, and both teens were out cold. 

Even she and Mike weren’t this openly affectionate. Sure a quick kiss here and there but this seemed strangely intimate. She had planned on interrogating Brick today but it seemed like that would have to wait for physics.

“Mike… has Brick mentioned anything about his ‘friendship’ to you?”

“No, the only piece of hard evidence I have is the picture you showed me and the sweater .”

“How is the sweater evidence? I share my sweaters all the time.”

“Yeah, but Brick doesn’t. Last month I got sick because he refused to let me borrow his hoodie. He wasn’t even wearing it! Just said some b.s. about how the sweater is special and no one is allowed to borrow it.”

Interesting. Robin supposed that was evidence, so she mentally filed it along with the cuddling session outside the library and the kiss on the cheek. Friendly? Yeah, she didn’t think so. She had seen the way he held her hands and talked to her. Brick Jojo was not friendly. Even when he was, she had never seen him look at someone like that. Sorry Buddy. The jig was up.

Boomer and Butch sat down at their table. Butch looked surprised.

“Boom. She’s wearing his-”

“Oh trust me. I noticed.” 

Clearly Boomer was in the same boat she was. Robin nodded at her fellow co conspirator, she would have to get his number from Bubbles tomorrow.

When the bell rang, both of them woke with a start. A stray piece of hair was stuck to Blossom’s cheek and before Robin could mention it, Brick tucked it behind her ear. Very interesting.

Mike snickered, “Did you have a good dream?”

Blossom and Brick looked very happy when they exclaimed, “Nope!”

Strange. Her investigator's sense was tingling but she decided to leave it alone. As the group of them walked to their respective classes, she had expected Brick to walk in the same direction seeing as they had the same class. Oh-ho! What’s this?

Brick was walking Blossom to class? Robin exchanged a knowing glance with Mike before they crept closer and hid behind a corner to hear.

_ “Snowflake. I’m serious. I need to know how attached your mom is to that couch.” _

Snowflake? She glanced at Mike who looked equally surprised. Pet names? Oh he’s got it bad.

_ “Brick. Relax. It’s just a couch.” _

_ “It’s a matter of life and death.” _

_ “You’re being dramatic.” _

_ “I’m serious! She can murder me in my sleep now! I have to take precautions!”  _

What did that mean? She thought back to yesterday. Brick had returned again but hadn’t left again. Could he be? No. Ms. Keane would kill him first. He must have left and she didn’t notice.

Blossom rolled her eyes but patted his cheek affectionately before she walked into her class. Brick stared after her as she went but he quickly shook his head and walked toward their physics class.

Robin said goodbye to Mike before she walked to her class and plopped down next to Brick who was her seat partner. Robin smiled at Brick knowingly, and Brick just stared down at his paper and ignored her. Hmph. 

“Soooo... Brick, You didn’t see the message.” 

Brick glanced at her before he curtly responded, “No.”

“You’re not even a little bit curious?”

“I know what it is. Blossom told me yesterday.”

“Oh.” That was disappointing, “So you agree that it would make a good wallpaper?”

“Don’t know. Haven’t seen it.”

“Wait, what? But you-”

“She doesn’t want me to see it and she doesn’t want you guys talking about it either.”

“Why-”

He scoffed and cut her off for the second time, “She thinks I’ll be embarrassed that people will think that I’m dating her. Which we’re not-” Brick gave her a dirty look, “- but she clearly needs glasses because she is way out of my league.”

Robin could only stare at him wordlessly. They were both idiots. Nearly everyone in the school thought that Brick and Blossom were the hottest in school. The only reason no girls asked Brick out was because he was an asshole. Blossom turned everyone down, because she was never ‘looking for a relationship’. Blossom was also under the impression that she looked like a freak. Morebucks might go to an elite boarding school in Europe now, but the damage she had done to Blossom’s ego had been enough.

It was obvious that Brick liked her, but she knew that Blossom wouldn’t realize it. She also knew that Blossom definitely liked Brick. Blossom is not the most affectionate out of the powerpuff girls, and was very hesitant about hugging and physical displays of affection, even platonically. Lately though, she’s been touching Brick in some way every second they’re together. The hand holding, the leaning, the nap. It was ridiculous. But how could she make these idiots see? 

Step one: Break down the Brick Wall

Brick was infatuated with Blossom, but how could she make him come to terms with it?

“Do you want to be?”

Brick gave her a glare, “Want to be what?”

“Dating Blossom.”

“What? Shut up Synyder.”

“Soooo I’m not hearing a no, so that’s a yes.”

“We’re friends, you imbecile!”

Heads turned in their direction and Brick slumped lower in his seat with a scowl. Bingo.

“Listen. I saw the kiss on the cheek, the pet names, and that picture showed  _ all _ the feelings you have towards Blossom.”

Brick stiffened, “ _ all?” _

“All.”

“Fuuuuuck. It’s not- Its just that she- she’s so...”

Feelings confirmed. Robin and Mike had noticed that he had been walking her home lately. Robin had also noticed that even when the other Utonium sisters were with him, Blossom and Brick hung back. Now all that was left was to get Brick to make his move.

God those oblivious idiots. It was a good thing Robin had allies, in her attempts to make the two realize what was in front of them

\---

~Brick~

Brick noticed that Robin and Mike were following him as he walked to Blossom’s class. He paused outside the class to wait for Blossom and looked directly at the not so discreet duo. She gave him an awkward smile and Mike waved. He looked at them suspiciously as they came closer.

“Brick! My best friend in the whole wide world!”

Now he was definitely skeptical. Brick heard the door of Blossom’s classroom open and students began pouring out.

Brick sighed, “What do you want?”

“Quality time with my best friend?”

Brick’s narrowed eyes widened slightly, as he felt a sudden hand on his arm. He glanced and saw that Blossom was by his side and looked at Mike curiously. Robin looked at his arm and gave him a cheeky look. He was going to strangle her. Fine. He wouldn’t mind dating Blossom. She was smart but not stuck up, she was surprisingly funny, and everytime she smiled at him his heart skipped a beat. But it didn't matter. She would never see him that way, and he appreciated her friendship too much to do anything. He turned his attention back on Mike.

“Mike... it’s a thursday.”

“I know how you feel about weekdays, but let’s go out. It’ll be the four of us.”

Brick glanced at Blossom, asking her a silent question with his eyes. She looked exhausted. Her hand drifted to his back and she wrote ‘ _ Tired’  _ with her finger.

“Sorry, Mike. Just not feeling up to it today, maybe another day.” 

Brick turned to go but Mike quickly shouted, “Wait! I’m going to Robin’s house afterschool, we’ll walk with you guys.”

“Alright.”

Brick and Blossom began to walk with the two idiots trailing behind them. What were they up to? He could tell that Blossom was thinking the same thing, as her eyes kept flickering to them. The pair behind them was surprisingly silent, usually, Blossom and Brick discussed their situation but they couldn’t today. Instead they chatted about movies and whether or not ‘The Mummy’ was actually good. 

When the four finally arrived, Blossom and Brick began to walk away waving.

“Hold on! How about we go home together after Brick.” 

Brick froze. What the hell was he supposed to say? Blossom looked visibly stressed.

“Uh- What time are you leaving?”

“Er- I don’t know. Maybe 6-ish. Robin’s mom doesn’t let me stay when it gets dark, says it's ‘sinful’.”

“Ah sorry man. I’m helping the professor as an intern now and he asked me to work late.”

Mike nodded but Robin looked at him skeptically. Robin. She was going to lord their conversation in physics over him forever.

Before they could ask anymore questions, Brick grabbed Blossom by the arm, pulling her inside the house, and waved bye over his shoulder. Brick sighed in relief when he entered the house. He needed to shower and then do his homework. He stretched and tried to crack his back to no avail. He noticed Blossom frown.

“Does your back hurt?”

Her hand touched his back briefly and sent tingles down his spine. Friends. Friends. Friends.

“Nah, it's fine,” He lied and walked over to where his duffel bag with his clothes was. He grabbed sweats, boxers, a t-shirt and his towel. 

“I’m gonna shower.”

Blossom’s eyes widened slightly but she nodded and he watched her saunter up the stairs to her own room. 

\---

It was midnight and Brick was tossing and turning. He was so tired all day and now he was awake? He supposed that it was probably from some nervousness about dreaming again.That and something else... He sighed and rubbed his face irritably. Robin had spent the rest of the period trying to convince him that Blossom definitely liked him back. Brick wasn’t an idiot. Blossom had people lining up just so people could try to ask her out. She turned down star athletes and popular students. He was just a grumpy nerd who loved math and mechanics. The only reason she was even hanging around him right now was because of this dream thing. 

He heard soft footsteps behind him, Brick sat up and whirled around. Blossom stood there rubbing her arm. Brick’s mouth went dry, she was wearing a tank top with pajama shorts. Her hair was down in messy slightly damp curls from her shower earlier. Was she trying to kill him?

“Brick?”

“Can’t sleep?”

She shook her head. Brick shifted and tossed the blanket to the side so that she could sit down. Blossom sat down directly next to him even though the rest of the couch was empty. Her long shapely legs were surprisingly well defined and muscular. Fighting villains and monsters all the time must make you pretty fit. Right now he couldn't help but be thankful for those monsters. He tried not to look at her.Holy thoughts. Holy thoughts. Ms.Keane would kill him. Holy thoughts. Holy thoughts.

“I’m scared,” she whispered. 

The look on her face made him pause and he opened his arms. Blossom flung herself into them and he enveloped her in his embrace. He could smell the shampoo she had used, definitely peaches. She lifted her face from his chest and looked up at him. 

“Can I test something?”

“Sure.”

She gently pushed him back until he was laying down. She laid on top of him and pulled the cover over them. He was glad it was dark so she couldn’t see his red face. She burrowed into his arms and sighed contentedly. Her chest was pressed against his. Friends. Friends. Ms.Keane was going to kill him. He should tell her they can’t sleep like this, no matter how innocent and friendly her intentions were. Unfortunately, Brick had no self control, instead he buried his nose into her hair and allowed the lovely aroma to envelop him. He would deal with whatever came in the morning, for now he drifted to sleep as their chests rose and fell in sync.

When Brick woke up he felt weight on top of him. He opened his eyes groggily. He nearly had a heart attack as he saw beautiful orange curls framing Blossom’s face as she dozed peacefully on his chest. Her arms were wrapped around him, and he realized one of his arms was wrapped around her waist. God she was so beautiful. He moved his hand so that his thumb trailed across her cheek. He continued running his thumb across her face and didn't stop when he reached her lips. He brushed his finger across her plump lips and took in how soft and kissable they were. He could just stare at her all- wait a minute. He quickly snatched his hand back. Fuck. Brick, what the hell are you doing? What time was it?!? He reached for his phone and realized they only had five minutes before Ms.Keane’s alarm went off.

He shook Blossom gently and whispered, “Blossom. Blossom. C’mon snowflake you gotta wake up.”

Blossom clutched him tighter but her hand reached up and patted his cheek, “Mmm. Five more minutes.” 

They didn’t have that kind of time! 

He shook her slightly harder, she opened her eyes and mumbled, “Brick? Go back to sleep…”

Her head shot up and her cheeks flushed red as she realized their position. She scrambled off of him.

“Oh-I- oh-um-I”

Brick shook his head, they didn’t have the time for Brick to embarrass himself with a response, “You have to go pretend you just woke up, you have a minute!”

Her eyes widened and she quickly fled to her room. He heard Ms.Keane’s alarm go off upstairs. Brick groaned and slapped his forehead. What was wrong with him? He was lucky he woke up early. He felt surprisingly well rested, he hadn’t had a dream. Hold on. No dream? The times he hadn’t had a dream, they had slept in- uh- close quarters. What did it mean? How would he even begin to explain if that was the case? Fuck. He had to make things complicated for himself didn't he?

He grabbed a pair of jeans, a black t-shirt, and a red flannel from his bag before he went to the bathroom to change. He brushed his teeth angrily, and tried his best to keep his thoughts innocent. 

Ms.Keane would kill him.

_ The feeling of her in his arms _ .

She would bury him in the backyard.

_ Her chest pressed against him as their bodies were tangled on the couch. _

Yeah. he was definitely a dead man.

\--

~Blossom~

Blossom was scandalized. She couldn’t believe that she had gone to Brick like that. Who was she kidding? Even if she was testing whether or not their dreams were affected by proximity, they were both still teenagers.

Throughout the whole school day she was jumpy. Every time their shoulders brushed against each other or she was close enough to smell coffee, she would quickly put distance between them. Blossom knew that her action didn’t go unnoticed by her sisters, who attempted to ask her about it throughout the day. 

Blossom managed to get away with lack of sleep as an excuse for her weird behavior. When Blossom remembered she was supposed to go to the library with Brick today she groaned. Their english teacher had assigned them a literature project and both of them were supposed to pick an important literary work. She was looking forward to working with him, but she couldn’t help but replay the events of last night in her head. It wasn't fair to him, if she kept acting strange. She was the one who had done it anyway.

\---

~Brick~

They sat in silence at the library, but the silence was somewhat awkward. Brick was scribbling down possible book ideas. He was clearly distracted however because his fingers drummed on the surface of the table. Unknowingly, a single flame danced in between his fingertips. The flame would weave in between his fingers, swiftly moving before the finger made contact with a table. It was entrancing.

Blossom had no idea he had had that much control over his flames, Blossom had trouble with precision when it came to her ice. For him to be so in control even subconsciously impressed her.

“I didn’t know you could do that.”

Brick paused and looked up from his paper at her. He noticed the flame in his hand and it quickly disappeared in a wisp of smoke. Brick gave her a sheepish smile.

“Sorry about that. It's a bad habit.”

“Don’t be. How much control do you have over the flame? How precise can you get?”

Brick gave her his characteristic arrogant smirk and held his palm out. A small flame erupted before it began to grow slowly. She realized that the flame had split into two and was developing into a distinct shape. She gawked as the flame took the shape of two people made of fire and began to dance across his palm.

‘Wha- That’s incredible.”

He shrugged and closed his hand into a fist extinguishing the flame, and opened his hand again to reveal an empty palm.

“I would say fairly precise.”

He ignored her surprise and instead leaned over to check the book titles she had written down.

“Dickens?” 

“Yeah, I thought a tale of two cities might be interesting.”

“Have you read it before?”

“I have, it’s sort of bittersweet.”

“How so?”

“Well I won’t spoil it for you but one of the characters makes a huge sacrifice for the woman he loves.” 

Blossom paused and tapped her pen on the table thoughtfully, “It really makes you think about how much someone is willing to do in the name of the people they love.”

Brick’s soft voice surprised her when he said in a low voice, “I’d do anything.”

Brick’s eyes looked haunted and Blossom couldn't help but suspect that Brick already had. He stood up, the brief vulnerability gone.

“C’mon, it's getting late.”

As they walked home Blossom couldn’t help but replay their conversation in her mind. Anything? The tough leader of the Rowdyruff boys had looked uncharacteristically distressed.

She put it out of her mind as they arrived at her house. Upon entering the smell of food hit her like a truck. Her stomach grumbled and Brick snickered. She shoved him lightly before walking into the kitchen with him in tow.

Butch and Buttercup sat on the counter arguing whle Bubbles was cooking something. Boomer was doing his best to help her, but if the flour that covered him was any indication, he wasn’t the best assistant.

Brick looked surprised to see them there, “Butch? Boomer?”

Both brothers turned towards him and smiled before rushing forward. Brick stepped back.

“Wait no. Boom you’re full of-” 

Both brothers hugged him, Brick sighed but pat their backs anyway. When they released him, Blossom giggled when she saw the flour on his shirt.

“Boom. Butch. Why are you guys here?”

“We missed youuuu! Plus Butch ate all the snacks and neither of us know how to cook....”

“I did not! The cooking thing is true. Thank goodness you’re coming back tomorrow.”

“Uh-huh. The house hasn’t burned down yet? Is it sad that I find that surprising?”

Butch bristled and Boomer pouted. Brick laughed and affectionately tousled his hair. 

Brick placed his hand on Boomer’s shoulders, “So you two were alone? There weren’t any-” Brick paused and his eyes darted over to her, “unexpected visitors?”

Boomer stiffened. 

Butch shook his head, “He’s arrivng sunday.”

Sunday? Brick nodded and squeezed Boomer’s shoulder comfortingly. What was that about? Who was visiting? 

Bubbles interrupted the brother’s conversation, “Dinner’s ready! Feel free to help yourselves.”

Butch and Boomer nearly trampled over eachother as they rushed to get a plate. Brick glanced back at her and rolled his eyes before he followed them. 

“Ms.Keane and the Professor already left for the conference by the way.”

Blossom nodded as she served herself and sat next to Brick at the table. Bubbles sat next to Boomer across the table. Buttercup sat on her right and Butch sat on Boomer’s left. It was better to keep them far away from each other. She really didn't want to deal with a repeat of what they did in the cafeteria last month. 

Butch began to brag about his recent athletic achievments. Buttercup was quick to begin arguing with him. The two blondes’ attention went back and forth between Butch and Buttecup’s faces, as if they were watching a tennis match. Brick pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance, but Blossom could tell that he was somewhat amused by their antics.

\-- Brick

When 7 o'clock rolled around Buttercup was quick to kick his brothers out. Butch and Boomer had whined but after a quick hug goodbye and another reassurance that he would be home soon, they left. 

He had quickly gone to shower and change into a pair of sweats and the obligatory shirt. When he exited the bathroom, he saw that Buttercup was standing in the kitchen speedily washing the dishes. Blossom had gone up to shower when he had and he could still hear the shower going.

Buttercup paused her washing when she noticed that he was there.

She continued washing but talked to him with her back turned, “You and your brothers are surprisingly affectionate.”

“I guess.”

Brick hadn’t realized it if it was true. They were a tight knit bunch and Brick was happy to provide any affection that they lacked from their ‘creator’. 

“Consider yourself lucky. I love my sisters but Blossom isn’t very touchy-feely.” 

Buttercup placed the last dish on the rack before turning to look at him. He was sure that his surprise must have been obvious. Blossom had never shied away when he held her hand or anything. Could it be possible that he was making her uncomfortable?

Before Brick could question her he felt a tap on his back. He turned and saw Blossom standing there, she must not have washed her hair because it was dry and in a bun on top of her head. He resisted the urge to tuck a stray curl behind her ear. 

Buttercup gave him a pointed look before she walked upstairs without another word. Blossom watched her go with furrowed brows. He placed a hand on her shoulder before quickly removing it, remembering what Buttercup said.

“Wanna sit down?”

They both sat down, a respectable distance away from each other. Buttercup was right. He cringed inwardly at how awkward he probably made her. He should make it up to her somehow. She leaned back into the couch and rubbed her arms slightly. 

Unthinkingly he stretched his arm in her direction before yanking it back. Unfortunately for him she noticed this time. She frowned and leaned forward.

“Brick? What’s wrong?”

Brick hesitated but answered her question anyway.

“It's just… Buttercup told me that you don’t really like physical contact…”

Brick looked down at his feet but Blossom had grabbed his chin and turned him towards her. His breath hitched when he realized how close she was to his face. 

“I don’t mind when it's you.”

Her face was slightly pink and he was sure his face was too. He could feel her breath on his lips and it took everything in him not to kiss her there. He tucked that stray curl behind her ear and let his hand brush across her cheek when he did.

“Okay,” he whispered but neither of them moved. Her eyes darted to his lips and his pulse quickened. Could it be? Could Robin be right? He leaned in ever so slightly and so did she and just when they were about to meet…

DOOO DOOO DO DOOOO DOOO

Both of them sprang apart, startled by Brick’s ringtone. Whatever moment was happening was gone. Brick scowled and saw that it was Boomer.

“Boomer? What the hell-”

A loud voice responded from the other side of the phone.

**“MY SON!”**

Brick’s blood ran cold at the familiar voice that was definitely not Boomer.

“Where’s Boomer?

“ **Why are you not home? It is midnight and neither of your disobedient brothers can answer my questions. Even when coerced. Mwahahaha”**

Brick hung up the phone and shot up from the couch. 

Blossom grabbed at his shirt, “Brick? Are you-” 

“I have to go.”

Brick quickly sped out without saying anything else. He hated leaving her but he had no idea what his brothers were going through. He had been so focused on the mysterious monster that he had allowed himself to forget about the monster at home.

Brick burst through his own front door and he blanched when he took in the scene. Butch’s hands were tied up and his eyes were filled with rage. He looked untouched beside the fact that he didn’t have his powers. When Brick’s eyes fell on Boomer, his heart broke. Boomer was kneeling on the floor and his lip was bloody. Bruises and cuts lined his face and Boomer’s normally happy eyes were filled with tears. Rage filled Brick, he stepped forward and held Boomer’s face.

Boomer simply looked at him but it seemed as if he didn’t register that Brick was there. He should’ve been here. Mojo Jojo wasn’t supposed to be here until sunday.

He heard footsteps behind him and Brick reluctantly released Boomer. Mojo Jojo stood there with a smug smile, he gave no indication of regret about beating his son senseless.

“Where have you been son?”

“Out.”

Mojo Jojo tutted and held out a familiar syringe. Brick tensed and his eyes darted towards his brothers. He knew better than to resist. The liquid entered his body and he felt the familiar ache of normalcy.

“Tell me where you were.”

“I was at MIke’s.”

“Last time I checked, I didn’t give you permission… You will be punished for this.”

Brick’s eyes closed in anticipation. He wished Blossom was here, but not even she could save him from this nightmare. He wouldn’t be able to wake up from this nightmare he called reality. He thought of her smile when the blow came.

  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
